Addict (SetoSolace)
by hghrules
Summary: But dark magic is dangerous. And once it has its hold on someone, it doesn't take kindly to being forced to let go.
1. Blurb

It started out with one spell. Just one. It was simple, it was easy.

It made him feel invincible.

But then it grew out of control, until the only magic he could cast - the only magic he _wanted_ to cast - was dark magic, and suddenly morals flew out the window in favor of another dark high.

Fortunately (or perhaps rather _un_ fortunately), it is then that an innocent, kind-hearted boy stumbles across the dark sorcerer's path, and, after meeting him and recognizing The Light That Could Be, the boy makes it his life's goal to lead his new "friend" back in the right direction (and also to convince the dark sorcerer to help the Light Mages win the magic war).

But dark magic is dangerous. And once it has its hold on someone, it doesn't take kindly to being forced to let go.

Seto doesn't want to let go.

* * *

Setosolace. Very gay. Very _very_ gay. No real-world cursing. Rated PG13, I'd say? 'Cause there is violence _galore._ XD

SO, IS ANYONE ELSE SUPER EXCITED? 'CAUSE I'M SUPER KJASDFKLSD JFSD I'VE GOT THE ENTIRE BOOK PLOTTED OUT, ENDING AND ALL. SO FINISHING THIS ONE SHOULD BE A PROBLEM.

THIS IS _NOT_ IN THE SAME UNIVERSE AS THE REMIND ME SERIES. IN THIS UNIVERSE, SETO NO LONGER TALKS TO THE TEAM. (PERHAPS IT WILL BE RESOLVED BY THE END).

THERE IS SO MUCH GAY OMG

AND SO MANY FEELINGS NAD

ASDKJF SKLDFS

ANYWAYS

I DONT KNOW WHEN I'LL POST THE FIRST CHAPTER

BUT IT'LL BE SOON

BAIIIII, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS!


	2. One: Fabled

_GUYS OMG I AM **SO** EXCITED RN_

 _THIS IS GONNABE GREAT_

 _ALSO I HAVE A FEELING MY UPDATES FOR THIS BOOK WILL BE **VERY** SPORADIC XD_

 _(also, note: this chapter, authors note included, is exactly 2,666 words :3)_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 1: "Fabled"**

"Why are you doing this!?"

"For the high," I laugh, waving my hand toward him, and he goes flying into the air. "Give me all your money or something."

"O-Or something?" asks the woman who I assume is his wife. She's trying hard to keep her attention on me rather than glancing over toward her husband.

"Eh, he'll be fine. And, yeah, just, something to boost my rep, you get me?"

"You're only doing this for the reputation?" asks the woman, furrowing her eyebrows judgmentally. Yikes. Not dealing with this.

"As I said, I do it for the high. Off you go!" I mutter a spell and flick my wrist out a little, and the woman goes flying after her husband. I sigh happily as the buzz of dark magic warms my torso, and then I grin and turn to face the two little kids, a boy and a girl. "Why, hello, there! I'm Seto, pleasure to meet you. What are your names?"

"U-Uh, I-I'm Jenny a-and she's Danny."

I raise an eyebrow. "She? A+ naming, parents."

"She hasn't decided on a girl name yet."

"Ah, I see. May I suggest 'Danielle?'"

Danny smiles widely at me and nods excitedly, and I frown and lean in to whisper in the girls' ears. "Now, listen up, kids. I'm scary. Super scary. You'd better tell your parents and the rest of the city that I scared the living crap out of you kids, or else I'll lose my reputation. Deal?"

"He said crap," Jenny whispers in awe. "You _are_ evil!"

I laugh quietly. "Yeah. Deal?"

"Deal!" Danny/Danielle squeals, and I shush her.

"Act terrified!" I command before backing away and laughing evilly. "Perhaps this lesson will not be one you soon forget," I boom, and the man and woman scramble through the trees in a mad rush to return to their children.

Danielle is actually crying, and I find myself to be quite proud of the small girl as she runs to her mother and sobs into her arms. "Mommy, he's a bad man! Take me home!"

Jenny backs away from me slowly, saying, "H-He was gonna hurt Danny!"

"W-We're going home! We'll get out of your way!" the father tells me in a pleading tone, and I tap my chin slowly.

"And why should I allow you to leave unharmed? Well, relatively unharmed, that is," I chuckle, eyeing his broken arm.

"We- Danny has his first baseball practice tomorrow?" he tries. I notice Danielle stiffen a bit in her mother's arms, but then she continues the fake crying act.

I snort. "Didn't know Minecraft even _had_ baseball. Danielle, you into it?"

She shakes her head, still acting scared.

"Not a good enough reason. She doesn't seem very excited."

The mother frowns. " _His_ name is Danny-"

"Yes, well, _my_ name is Seto, and I have a habit of killing those whom I dislike. Unfortunately, I am disliking you and your husband more and more each moment. Perhaps you _should_ leave, before I lose control of myself."

The father swallows hard and grabs Jenny's hand. "All right. We- We'll be going now."

"Tell the city how terrifying I was! Wouldn't want anyone else making the mistake of wandering near my home again," I call after them as they hurry away. "Oh, and perhaps you could consider calling Danielle by her proper pronouns? Lovely, have a nice day!"

With them gone, the forest is silent.

Suddenly angry with myself for terrifying and driving away another fairly innocent family, I make my hand into a fist and slam it at the ground, relishing in the cold sting of the dark magic as it hits the grass and ripples out across the ground. Birds fly out of the trees as the ground cracks slightly, and I laugh. I feel great!

And then the forest is silent again.

I sigh and sit down on a part of the ground that's still intact. _"Daemonem vocent,"_ I chant, watching the ground as it shakes slightly and the grass begins to turn a tint of red. After a large display and a good bit of warmth rushing through my body, sending me higher still, a blaze shoots up through the cracked ground and then settles in front of me. It blarbles out something in blaze language – the one mob language I never bothered to learn, for whatever reason – and I shrug and roll my eyes. "Entertain me."

It seems to get the gist of my command, and it begins wildly hurling fireballs at every nearby object. Trees go up in flames, and a pig squeals as it runs through the clearing and consequently gets hit by a fireball.

"Hey, now, not the pigs," I say strictly, flicking my wrist at the animal. Purple wisps of magic surround it, the fire goes out, and its health is entirely restored. As it sighs and moves away from me and my blaze, I mumble, "Jason would have hated that."

I squeeze my eyes shut and then pop them open again as I jump to my feet. "Okay!" I shout, willing the blaze to return to the Nether. It _poofs_ away, and I nod. "Today is a bandit day. Off we go!" I splay my hand out towards the trees, and they all get sprayed with dark purple water. Haha, yuck. "Now, will I need a companion today?" I ask myself as I head off in a random direction. "No. No, I don't need anyone. I'm fine on my own. No need for pets."

I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders back as I step around a huge tree trunk. "Right. What's the most populated road this time of day?" I bite my lip and think for a moment. "Ah, yes, of course. There should be at least a few people on the main road between the City and the Burg." I cast a quick swiftness spell on myself and then sprint forward, clenching my hands into fists as the dark magic courses through me.

In only a few minutes, the road is in my line of sight, and I'm smirking as I approach. But then, unexpectedly, I am thrown back several feet and slammed against a tree. Groaning in pain, I sink down against the trunk of the tree. "Have you no chill?" I grumble, looking up to see who attacked me. I heal myself with a quick wave of my hands.

With my strength regained, I get to my feet and glance around. There's no one here..? Ha, I'm not falling for that. With a slight flick of my wrist, I cast a true sight spell on my surroundings. Sure enough, there are five "invisible" mages gathering into a circle around me.

"Why, hello," I greet them kindly, ducking down and then frowning in offense when one of them fires a ball of electricity at me. "Well. I see you've no time for niceties. Fair enough."

One of the mages growls in warning before pouncing toward me, and I snort and teleport out of harm's way. "Come on, now, don't be going easy on me. I'm a big boy, I can take it."

"You are the fabled Dark Sorcerer?" one of the mages asks in a low tone.

"Ah, fabled? My, my, I've earned quite a name for myself. And I do believe I sense a few capital letters, there, too. Very impressive, if you ask me," I tell them, raising an eyebrow as one of them tries and fails to hit me with a draining spell.

"No one asked you," another mage hisses.

The first mage shakes his head. "We do not wish for trouble, sir."

"Oh? Well, I hate to break it to you, boys, but you aren't exactly doing the best job of _avoiding_ trouble at the moment."

"Do not be smart with us."

"Would you rather I be dumb? Perhaps that would improve your chances of winning this battle," I chuckle as throw up a shield to reflect another magic attack. The reflected spell hits one of the mages, and he falls to the ground, unconscious.

The first mage, who seems to be the leader of this group, scowls at me. "We mean you no harm."

"Aha! _That's_ why you and your men continue to fire offensive spells at me. See, I understand, now. Clearly, this is all just a huge misunderstanding." One of the mages summons a ghast, which I immediately turn against him, and I roll my eyes. Amateurs.

"Well," says the lead mage, "if this is how you wish this encounter to go… So be it."

 _"So be it,"_ I mock him, pretending my hand is a sock puppet. "Spectacular, I'm simply _shaking_ in my boots."

"You speak bravely now, but will your bravery last?"

"I don't know," I say, tilting my head and smiling slightly. My smile drops. "Try me."

Three of the four conscious mages attack me all at once while the leader steps back merely to watch. Coward. _"Tarda,"_ I whisper (so quietly that I doubt they even heard), taking in a deep breath, and time slows around me. With my newfound time, which I now have plenty of, I look around at each of the mages in turn.

 _"Mortem!"_ one of the mages shouts in slow-motion, staring straight at me, and I roll my eyes. As if an insta-death spell could actually end me.

The second mage waves his hands around in a complicated pattern that seems to take ages before finally directing them at me, and I laugh at his weak attempt at offense. No amateur drain spell will be affecting me anytime soon.

The third mage only glares at me, and I quickly catch on that he's got mental magic. A wispy black orb of dark magic begins to form in front of him, and I laugh as I allow time to return to its normal speed.

I jump up and over the three attacks from the mages, and then I flick my wrist toward the first mage, the one with the verbal magic. Immediately, his mouth is clamped shut, and his eyes widen in surprise. No more casting spells for you, buddy! Next, I splay my hands out toward the mage with visual magic, and he looks down to find his hands now bound together in front of him. Have fun signing spells with that, loser.

Finally, I turn toward the mental mage, and he raises an eyebrow as though daring me to try to defeat him like I defeated the others. Not one to turn down a challenge, I smirk and close my eyes, quickly breaking past his meager mental defenses and messing around in his head. It doesn't take me long to find the center of his magical ability, a part of his brain that glows black like his magic. Yikes, is that disgusting, or what? Mental magic, I swear. Never mind that I use mental magic, too.

The mental magic-using mage tries to force me out of his mind, but I laugh out an "Ah, ah, ah!" and then squeeze my magic around the black part of his brain. What a lovely time he'll have trying to access any part of his magic later on! The poor mage collapses to the ground in pain, and I silently apologize. Sorry, bud, but your magic had to be dealt with a bit differently.

The lead mage steps toward me slowly, looking impressed. "Well," he says, his voice quavering a little, and I grin.

"Yes?"

"The rumors of you having control over more than one magic… They are true," he says, looking me up and down.

"Why, yes, they are," I reply, wondering exactly how much he knows. I mean, it's not a secret – but if he thinks I've only got the two types, visual and mental – heh. _Well._ We'll see.

"Unfortunately for you," the mage continues, sticking his nose in the air slightly, and I fight the urge to flat-out punch him, "I _also_ have power over two types of magic. _Ligabis!"_

I look down at my hands, which are now bound in front of me. Ah.

 _"Frigidus cerebri!"_

I wince at the intense brain freeze I get. Oh, simply _lovely._

"And what will you do now, legendary Dark Sorcerer? I suppose you are not so powerful as we thought."

"Well," I huff out, " _You're_ an idiot. I'm not called 'legendary' for nothing, pal." He frowns in confusion, and I roll my eyes and chant, _"Est normalis capabilities!"_ My hands are unbound, my mind feels free again. _"Detinent!"_

The mage falls to his knees, crying out in pain as his fingers tie themselves in knots and invisible sewing needles sew his mouth shut forever. The pleasing tingle of dark magic flickers through me, and I stand up just a little bit straighter.

"So, you see, I've got not two, but _all three_ types of magic!" I say casually, brushing myself off. "That went quite well, I'd say. No trouble, not for me. Suppose you got your wish, in a sense!"

Mr. Lead Mage groans in pain and looks up at me pleadingly, and I roll my eyes. "Right, because I'd love to set a villain like you free on the land again. Not to say that I'm much of a better person than you are, because I'm certainly not, but – well, at the very least, I'm a decent fighter, which is far more than you and your men can say for yourselves. Not that you'll be able to say _anything_ after this."

The mage groans.

"Mm. My apologies, sir, but my memory is, unfortunately, not entirely infallible. Did you want to tell me something? Was that why you and your men first approached me?"

Wincing slightly, the mage nods and looks up at me again.

"Well, what was it? Speak up. Oh, my bad, you're mute, now. Perhaps you ought to learn sign language." I glance down at his hands. "Well, never mind. It was a nice thought, though, don't you think?"

He just stares at the ground.

"Yes, I suppose I should put you out of your misery. And what a shame! Now I'll never get your message."

The mage shakes his head frantically and scuffs the heels of his feet against the dirt.

"You believe you can write it with your feet? That would be quite the _feat,_ excuse the pun. You may try. Simply keep in mind that you will not get far if you make an attempt at escape."

He nods frantically and stumbles about, trying to get back into a standing position. After a hopeless while, I roll my eyes and help him up, and he nods gratefully before beginning to drag his foot across the ground in the shape of a letter.

Luckily, the poor man is clever enough not to waste my time by writing out each individual letter of his message. Instead, he writes three letters of an old, ancient sorcerer's language, three letters which translate roughly to _"Do not approach any base marked with the symbol of dark magic."_

"Well!" I exclaim, laughing a little. "That was quite possibly the _stupidest_ thing you could've possibly said. My apologies, _written._ Perhaps your ghost can follow me around as I explore each and every one of your bases?"

The mage shakes his head frantically, but I just shrug and roll my eyes once more. "Sorry, pal, but you were certainly asking for it."

Seeming angered, the mage runs forward unsteadily and rams straight into me.

I groan as I hit the ground, and then I wince as I rub the back of my head. "That," I mumble, gritting my teeth, "was not the smartest move, my friend.

 _"May you burn in the Nether."_


	3. Two: Legendary

_GUYS I THINK IM IN TOO DEEP_

 _IVE ALREADY WRITTEN CHAPTER THREE XD_

 _SO LETS SEE HOW LONG WE CAN KEEP UP DAILY UPDATES, YEAH?_

 _EXCEPT I HAVE SUMMER SCHOOL STARTING THURSDAY SO ITLL GET A BIT HARDER THEN._

 _ANYWAYS_

 _EN-JUH-HOY!_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 2: "Legendary"**

I wipe the blood off on my robe as I stroll toward the direction I assume the mages came from. I'm not sure what I'll find at their base, but I'm sure it will be a _lot_ more entertaining than playing bandit for the day.

I've only walked for about five minutes when what might be their base finally comes into view. It's a small thing, about a mile away from the City-Burg road, and it's surrounded by plain stone walls. Because that will _definitely_ protect them. Ha.

I walk right up to the front door, which is huge and wooden. "Anyone home?" I holler, banging on the door a bit. I'm greeted by two arrows that come whizzing down at me from above. "Yikes. Down, boy," I mutter, looking up at the two mages on top of the walls. "Can we perhaps be civil about this?"

"State your business!" one of them barks, aiming his bow at me.

I put my hands up in a defensive manner. "I'm delivering news on the mission to send the message."

"Enter."

The door swings open slowly, and I snort as I walk through. Well, that was disappointingly easy. Now, where to go first… There's a huge building in the center of this fort, and who knows what that's for. To my left is a smaller building made of iron, and to my right is what looks to be an armory, which must mean that these poor mages are really no good at magic.

I head off towards the big building, figuring that's where the head of command or whatever is, and therefore that's who I should be "giving the news to." Bet he'll be thrilled to discover he's lost five of his men.

I push the iron doors open and stroll down the hallway into a spacious room with a long rectangular table in the middle of it. Two men and two women are sitting down across from each other, speaking in hushed tones. "Your majesties," I say sarcastically, bowing slightly.

"Your sarcasm is not appreciated. Who are you?" asks one of the women.

"Messenger about your messengers, who are dead, by the way. Mostly."

"Oh? And who sent you?"

"I sent me. Clever, right? I think I deserve a medal."

One of the men narrows his eyes at me. "Hold on. If our five messengers are dead, and now a random new person shows up in our base-"

"Gold star! Absolutely stunning brain power," I praise him, clapping my hands. "So, why didn't you want me here? And why in Minecraftia did you choose _now_ to tell me to stay away?"

Their eyes darken. "You are not to be involved in this war."

"War? Wow, I've missed a lot, isolating myself for five years."

They glare at me.

"Sorry, go on."

"This argument of ours is not of your concern. Do not assist the Light Mages, and all will be well."

I snort. "Why would I help _them?_ I'm the _Dark Sorcerer,_ do you really expect me to get along with those guys?"

"Our fortune teller warned us that your loyalty, with whichever side it lies, will win the war."

"Well, your fortune teller's a tad wonky, pal."

"Just be smart about your actions during these fragile times."

"Sure thing, buddy. So, what's this whole war thing about?"

"It does not concern you," one of the men says, and I roll my eyes.

"Well, off I go to help out the Light Mages!" Their eyes widen. "Come, now, let's think a bit, shall we? Assuming your fortune teller _is_ worth a single piece of coal, you'll want me on _your_ side, correct? And if I don't know what you're fighting over, I can't be on your side."

"Fair point," admits one of the women. "If you must know, we Dark Mages are tired of all the disapproval of dark magic, and we feel it would be beneficial for us to take control of the City, and, therefore, the Light Mages."

"You 'feel it would be beneficial,'" I repeat in disbelief. Okay, there has _got_ to be more to this.

"Yes."

"Right. You know, I'll just let you do your thing? Have fun. I'll stay out of it. Don't bother me, I won't bother you, capiche?" I roll my eyes and turn around, walking toward the door.

"And how do we know you won't run straight to the Light Mages now?" one of them asks, and I groan and stop walking.

"Why would I even _do_ that-" I begin, only to be hit in the back with some sort of harmful spell.

"Unfortunately, we cannot allow you to leave," one of the women says as I fall to the floor, and I can hear her shoes clicking against said floor as she walks toward me. Get up, Seto, get up! I grit my teeth and shake my head as I force myself up onto my elbow and then turn around so I'm at least facing her.

"That," I mumble, "was _not_ very nice."

"Neither was walking out on us so suddenly," she replies, resting one of her feet on my stomach as though she has conquered me.

Oh, _honey._

 _"Retrorsum!"_ I shout, and the woman goes flying back into the rectangular table, which breaks as she crashes into it. "Do not test me," I growl as the other three leaders abruptly stand up.

"Desist," one of the men orders.

 _"Make me,"_ I reply.

All three of them begin either chanting or moving their hands about as their fallen partner slowly gets back onto her feet. _"Adficio!"_ the unharmed woman chants.

"Screw you-io!" I respond, jumping out of the way of the blast and holding up my hands to fire back at her. _"Placere relinquere!"_

She just barely dodges the blast, and I groan in contempt as she prepares to try another spell on me. _"Organa diversa dispergeretur! Quaerere!"_ yells one of the men. Grand, a tracking spell. There will be no dodging this time around.

 _"Praesidium!"_ I chant, holding up my arms in front of me like a shield. A wispy purple shield soon forms around me like a bubble, and, after a few moments, the man's spell gives up and dissipates. _"Serio ire!"_

The woman I first hit, who has just managed to stand up completely, gets hit by my spell and is promptly teleported a few chunks away. Good.

"Where has she gone!?" the remaining lady asks frantically, glancing around. "Where did you send her!? What is she enduring now!?"

"Nothing short of absolute Hell," I reply. Translation: A public kiddy pool, I think. I hope, for her sake, that it's closed at the moment. "You shouldn't have expected to defeat me so easily. I _am,_ after all, the Dark Sorcerer. The Dark magic loves _me_ almost as much as _I_ love _it."_

"The magic does not live. Does not feel."

"Doesn't it?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I flick my hand up into the air. Dark purple magic wisps around in a beautiful display of not-quite-light, and the three remaining leaders stare at it in awe. "Goodbye."

I stare hard at the three leaders, who are too distracted to defend themselves before my magic is catapulting them far into the distance.

Ah, well. A job well done, in my opinion.

I turn around and walk casually out of the building. No rush, you see. Might as well take a look around – if the leaders couldn't beat me, then the petty little guards don't even have a chance. "Hey, what's in here?" I call up to one of the archers on the wall. "This iron building! What's it for?"

"Prisoners. Messengers do not have clearance."

I huff. "Your face doesn't have clearance," I mumble immaturely, flicking my hand up toward him. He screams and disappears into thin air. Where he went, I neither know nor care.

The other archer stares in awe at the area his partner used to be taking up, and I make a mental note never to say "your face" again while I saunter through the door of the prison building. Once I enter, there's a long hallway filled with nothing but prison cells, left and right, which seems a bit odd seeing as literally none of them are filled. These are entirely unnecessary. I think _someone_ just wanted to look cool.

"H-Hello?" asks a timid voice, and my eyes widen. Well, I stand corrected. At least _one_ of the cells is in use.

"Name?" I ask sharply, peering through the bars into one of the cells. My eyes go wide again when I catch sight of the person inside the cell – a boy my age, but much scrawnier, with gravity-defying blond hair and striking blue eyes.

"Brice," the guy says quietly, flinching back slightly. "What's going on?"

I shrug, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. I _hate_ cute boys. "I'm breaking you out, I guess."

"Oh! So you're not- you're not one of the Dark Mages?"

"Oh, I'm a Dark mage," I reply, blasting open his cell, "I'm just not a Dark _Mage."_

"Uh… Okay?"

"Yeah. Just follow me."

"Stop!" the remaining archer yells at us, apparently having recovered from his shock. He notches an arrow and points it at Brice, and I huff in exasperation and wave a hand at him.

"Oh my Notch, you made him explode," Brice breathes fearfully, staring up at the bloodied walls.

"Yes, well, these things do happen."

"Ha," Brice laughs nervously, putting a few feet of distance between us as I continue walking toward the door of the base.

"Well, pleasure meeting you, Brice," I say, blasting a hole in the door since I'm too cool for handles. "Have fun getting home." I start off in the direction of my own home, intending to summon an ocelot or something to entertain myself with on the way.

"Wait! I don't even know your name," Brice explains, running after me.

"Call me _'The Dark Sorcerer.'_ Ominous, isn't it?"

"Wait, you're- no way."

"Hm," I hum, walking faster. "Go away, now. Nice meeting you."

"No, wait, hold up! Holy _crap,_ man, you're the legendary Dark Sorcerer!? You're amazing!"

"I'm evil. Get your facts straight."

"Legend has it, you're just Addicted."

"And so what if I am?"

"So you have to get help!" Brice insists, nodding earnestly. "You can't let the dark magic take you over!"

"It took over a long time ago, Brice. Shouldn't you be heading home?" I ask, bristling slightly.

"Didn't you have anyone trying to stop you before? Where are they now? I bet they miss you. I bet they want you to get un-addicted-"

"No one misses me!" I yell, turning around to face him. "And I can't just _un-addict_ myself, it doesn't _work_ like that!"

Brice winces, biting his lip and shrinking in on himself a little bit, and I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "Sorry. I- Sorry, okay? Just- leave me alone. Go home." I shake my head and turn back around, walking toward the forest.

"But," Brice begins again, and I sigh in resignation, which he takes as permission to run up and walk next to me again. Moron. "I think you're wrong. I think someone _must_ miss you." He flinches back a bit, as if expecting me to blow up again. I don't. "I think I would definitely miss you, if I'd known you before you got Addicted."

"Well, thanks."

He nods and hums positively. "So, where are you going?"

"Home. You should do the same."

"Ooh, okay! You can give me a tour-"

"No. Go to _your own_ home."

"Oh."

A few seconds pass, and I brush aside a few leaves so I can enter the forest. They fly back into Brice's face when I let go, and I don't regret a thing.

"Ow," Brice mumbles, stumbling past the branches to catch up to me again. "Wait! You can't just leave!"

"Yes, I can."

"But- But, you just totally wrecked that Dark Mage base!"

"Yes, I did."

"So- So you should join the Light Mages! You can help us wreck all the other bases, too! And then maybe we'll finally have a chance at winning the war."

"I'm not getting involved."

"Aw, come on! You're _super_ powerful, we could really use your help."

"They wouldn't _want_ my help," I snort, ducking under a branch. "I'm the most wanted criminal around. Imagine their reactions if I just up and strolled into a battle strats meeting of theirs."

"They'd be grateful, I know it," Brice says, looking over at me as we walk. "You're our only hope!"

"I'm a Dark mage. I'm Addicted. I kill people on a regular basis. 'Hope' is not a part of my vocabulary."

Brice bites his lip. "Uh, right. Well, still! I think you could help us."

"And I think I'm going to punch you if you ask me to help you one more time."

" _I_ think that you're all bark and no bite-"

I spin around and punch Brice in the face, and he lets out an "oof" and stumbles backwards a few steps. "Oh, Jeb," he mutters, holding his nose, which seems to be bleeding.

"My sincerest apologies," I deadpan before turning around and continuing home.

"Wait, I-"

I groan and whirl around again. "Notch, you just don't learn, do you?"

"Please help me."

I glare at him, at his pitiful, defeated-looking posture, at his not-so-gravity-defying-anymore hair, at his sad, and yet still striking, blue eyes.

Notch dang it.

"If I help you, will you leave me alone?"

"Absolutely!" Brice says happily, bouncing up and down a little bit.

"Oh, I'm gonna regret this," I grumble as I finally walk alongside Brice.


	4. Three: Bad

_YO SO I WROTE THIS SONG THINGY_

 _'S ABOUT SETO IN ADDICT :D_

 _IT'S ON MY YT CHANNEL (HGHRULES), TITLED "YOU ARE GOOD"_

 _ALSO, FOR ALL YOU WATTPAD FOLKS, IT SHOULD BE POSTED ABOVE!_

 _ANYWAYS ENJIHUSHDFA SOHYOYYYYY THIS CHAPTER AND THESONGG_

 _IM SO HYPER AND YET SO TIRED WHAT_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 3: "Bad"**

"But- But this is the path to the City-"

"Yeah, shut up. My cloak is all bloody, I want a new one."

"You're super powerful. Couldn't you just summon one..?"

"Sometimes walking is a nice thing to do." And, truthfully, I'm hoping that my scary forest will scare him away. Then I won't have to deal with… _him._

"Oh. Yeah, I guess so," Brice replies quietly, ducking under a sharp branch. Dang, he survived the first test. What a shame. "Um, how long of a walk is it?"

I smirk. "I can speed us up."

"Um-"

 _"Celeritas!"_ I shout, and our steps speed up a large bit.

"W-Wait, I- That's too fast, I can't keep up-" Brice's face smacks against several branches and shrubs and even a squirrel that couldn't move out of the way in time, and I try (and fail) not to laugh out loud. "I- DS, come on!".

I snort. "Did you just call me 'DS?'" I ask, effortlessly dodging yet another branch.

Brice splutters as he runs straight into said branch. "I- Well, you just told me to call you 'the Dark Sorcerer,' so, I mean, that's just really long, so-"

"I think that's an insult on my title," I scoff, not really offended but all for acting like I am. Maybe _this_ will get rid of him.

"Oh, sorry! But what's your real name?"

"Not telling."

"Aw, come on!"

"Don't make me punch you again."

Brice immediately shuts up, and I have to laugh a little as I jump over a tree trunk. Brice, impressively, manages the jump quite well, and I give him an appraising glance before zipping around a murky pond. He just barely manages to dodge it when it comes up, and I raise my eyebrows in surprise.

Our next obstacle is another fallen tree trunk, this time too high up to jump over. I limbo-skid under it before glancing back to see Brice's progress. Unfortunately, I'm so distracted by his just-barely-a-success that I end up tripping over a third tree trunk and then flying into another, thankfully less murky, pond. I splutter as I sink down in the still-not-so-clean water, and then something splashes nearby and I launch myself out of the water to find Brice reenacting my embarrassing spluttering from earlier.

I laugh as I let myself fall back into the water next to him. "And I was doing so well," Brice pouts, wiping water out of his eyes, and I grin.

"My apologies. You _were_ doing quite well."

Brice, having finished wiping his eyes, sees my smile and smiles as well, and I internally curse myself as I force my smile to drop. Brice looks up to my eyes in confusion, and I shake my head and shrug.

"You can call me Seto," I say after a short, comfortable silence. After a moment, I glance over at Brice to see him staring at me in awe, and I roll my eyes.

"I've never heard that name before!" he exclaims, a wide smile forming on his face as he changes his position in the water. "Did your parents actually name you that?"

"Eh. When a powerful sorcerer is born, they're born with their name sketched into the back of their head. My parents didn't really have a choice."

Brice's jaw drops. "That's so _cool!_ Can I see?"

I consider it for a moment, which is a bad sign in itself. Notch, I hate cute boys. _Especially_ when they're dripping wet. "Maybe later. Let's keep going."

Brice nods understandingly and clambers out of the pond, and I teleport out next to him. He pouts when he realizes that I've managed to magically dry myself. Then he looks up at me with this pleading expression, and I roll my eyes. "I'm not your servant."

He sighs and then frowns in concentration as he lifts his hands and moves them around a bit. "Uh…" He winces and then looks up at me. "What's the word for 'dry?'"

 _"Siccum,"_ I reply, rolling my eyes again. Nice to know he's at least a sorcerer, though. And apparently in control of two magic types, regardless of how incompetent he is at both.

 _"Siccum,"_ he repeats, flinching as though expecting it not to work. It doesn't, and he sighs.

"You have to believe it's going to work," I tell him, rolling my eyes a third time. Impressive, that might be a record. "Believe it, and make it so."

"Like a god?" Brice asks in awe.

"We're not gods," I scoff. "We're just sorcerers. Don't get _too_ full of yourself."

He takes a deep breath and tries the spell. Miraculously, it actually works, and he grins proudly as he looks down at his suddenly dry clothing. "I did it!"

"Indeed, you did," I confirm, walking in the direction of my house. "Come on, now. We're wasting time."

It doesn't take us much longer to reach my house, which is a seemingly small thing made of brick and cobblestone. Very homely, if I do say so myself. "Aw," coos Brice, "it's so cute!"

 _Your face is cute,_ I manage to avoid saying. Really must rid myself of that habit. "It isn't cute, it's _misleading,"_ I correct him, opening the door and strolling in. "Normal, right?" He nods hesitantly. "Wrong."

With a wave of my hand, a spiral stone staircase appears in the corner of the warm, homely room. Brice's eyes widen, and I smirk as I lead him downstairs.

"Holy _crap,"_ Brice whispers. "This place is _huge!"_

And, honestly, it is. The room, made of concrete, decorated with the scariest things I could conjure, enchanted with a protection spell of the highest caliber, spans the length and width of almost the entire forest. I've also enchanted this place with mindful-transport; if I take a step in the direction of the part of the room I wish to go, and if I think in my mind, "I want to go there," then I will take two more steps and already be there, regardless of how far away it was. Very useful enchantment. "Yes. It is," I reply simply, stepping toward my wardrobe, which is approximately half a forest away.

"What the crap!?" Brice yells, his voice fainter and farther away now, and I laugh as I open the wardrobe.

"Join me!" I shout to him, ignoring how much this is going to bite me in the butt later if he ever decides to share my whereabouts with the Light Mages.

Brice hesitantly takes a step in my direction, and then he squeaks as he's transported two steps away from where I am. "Oh my Jeb," he squeals, glancing behind him. "That's so cool!"

"Yes, well," I hum, pushing aside different cloaks in my wardrobe. "Ah, here we are." I pull out a cloak identical to the one I'm currently wearing; it's white, grey, purple, and red, and it's the one the City and the Burg know me by, for the most part. I snap my fingers, and my bloodied cloak is replaced by this new one while the bloodied cloak returns to my wardrobe, perfectly clean. "All right. I'll get us some potions and food stuffs, and then we'll be off, yes?"

Brice just nods, still staring at me in awe, and I can't pretend I'm not enjoying the attention. It's nice to have someone be simply impressed with me rather than afraid of me, for once.

I step around the room, picking up various potions and food items and stuffing them into my bottomless backpack (very useful, if you ask me). "Brice! Need anything specific?" I ask him as he steps between the potions and the food department over and over, giggling wildly.

"Uh, I dunno, what is there to need?" he calls back distractedly, eventually ending up at my side again.

"And, that means you don't need anything," I mutter, rummaging through a chest in search of a swiftness potion.

"I need _you,"_ Brice says, winking exaggeratedly as though this is the best pick-up line he's ever come across.

"You're an idiot. Follow me, we're going." He pouts as I lead him back up the spiral staircase and then wave my hand, causing it to disappear. "I suppose the 'don't-tell-anyone' threat goes without saying?" I ask, holding the door open for him.

Brice laughs nervously as he walks through, and I look up at the sky to find that the sun is rising on a new day. Guess we spent quite a while in there. "Um, yeah."

"Lovely. Lead me to the first Dark Mage base!"

* * *

According to Brice, we're only about half-way there when I get distracted.

"Danielle!" I shout, calling off the swiftness spell and walking towards Danielle and her family. "Jenny! Ah, and your parents. How are you four doing on this fine day?"

Danielle flinches back in what looks like genuine fear, and her sister shakes her head frantically. Her parents nearly faint upon seeing me, and I raise an eyebrow. "It's only been a day since our, ah, _encounter,"_ I comment, narrowing my eyes at them all. "I wouldn't expect you to be leaving your beloved City so soon."

Danielle sniffs quietly.

"My family and I are going on a merchant trip to the Burg, but the night scared us all a good bit," laughs a tall man as he walks out from behind the four.

"Oh? And who are you?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Jenny and Danielle look up at me hopefully.

"Why, I'm his father," the man laughs, pointing to Jenny and Danielle's dad, and I roll my eyes at his shoddy acting.

With a wave of my hand, I zip forward so that I'm right up in the man's face. "But who are you _really?"_

The man's eyes go wide. "It does not concern you," he says, though his voice wavers unsurely.

"Sir, I understand that you've probably got a very reasonable reason for seemingly kidnapping these four citizens. But, unfortunately for you, _I_ was planning to kidnap them, as well! What a shame that our two plots have crossed each other," I sigh, shrugging as I look up at the man, who is a good deal taller than me.

The man's eyes narrow, and he stiffens. "I need this family for business of the Dark Mage Empire," he says in a low tone.

"Do you? I need this family for business of the Dark Sorcerer Empire. Look, at that, Brice, I've got my own empire now!" I laugh, glancing back at Brice. "Fantastic," I say, turning back to look at the man. Before I can fully turn around, though, I'm being hit with a blast of powerful dark magic that forces me to the ground and causes me to groan in pain.

"Seto!" Brice calls worriedly, running my way, but I hold up a hand to stop him.

I exhale slowly while standing up and brushing myself off. "Pal," I laugh darkly, turning around slowly to face the man again. "That was what we winners call a _'fatal mistake.'"_

I raise both of my hands up in front of me, brushing them around in the shape of an orb. _"Quarere,"_ I whisper, grinning cruelly. The man must know that signifies a tracking spell, because he immediately puts up his arms to form a shield. _"Confractus clypeus. Gradu decem."_ His eyes go wide, because he can't be higher than a five power-wise, and so my spell is sure to break through any shield he could cast. "Cover your eyes, kids!" I shout, and Brice puts his hands over Danielle's eyes when she tries to look. Jenny buries her face in her mother's skirt, and I grin. _"Laminas acutissimas. Fast et repetita. Ut dolor ultimus extremum usque spiritum."_

Brice winces and looks away as well when the magical purple blades begin flying at the man from all directions, stabbing into him over and over and bringing out flows of blood. The man begins to scream in agony, and I cast a quick spell with my right hand to deafen Brice and the family.

The man drops to his knees as the blades continue to attack, painful but never fatal assaults. "Please, stop- stop!" he begs through ragged breaths.

"Tell your higher-ups," I hiss, kneeling down to be at eye level with him, "that if they wish to have me on their side, they should _not_ be getting in my way."

The man nods frantically, and I smile sweetly as I hold out a hand to help him to his feet. "Run along, then," I command, and he lets out a small cry and then sprints toward the Burg, with my magical blades still pressing him forward all the way.

I flick my wrist toward Brice and the family, and their hearing returns. "W-Where did he go?" Brice asks timidly.

"Vacation," I reply, waving a hand behind my back to clean up the messy blood pool the man left behind.

Jenny takes a deep breath as she backs away from her mother. "I-I don't even wanna know."

"Smart kid," I comment, walking closer to her and her family. "Well! Now that your kidnapper has, ah, _resigned,_ I suppose I can take his position!"

"You saved us," the father breathes in awe.

My eyes darken. "You are far worse off with me than you were with him," I whisper, and the father's face pales. My tone and expression brighten. "Unfortunately, Danielle has her first baseball practice tomorrow! Perhaps give it a try, Danielle, and if you don't form a liking, you can ask your parents for a switch?"

Danielle nods happily, recovering astoundingly quickly from my little display. "Well. I won't keep you any longer, then," I say politely. "Good luck with your game!"

Her mother frowns. "We'll be late." Then she catches herself and smiles nervously/gratefully at me. "Er, but thank you! For saving us."

"For re-kidnapping you," I correct her. "I can teleport you four if you'd like. My sincerest apologies if you arrive with a slight headache."

"That would be _lovely-_ "

"I'm only doing this for your daughter," I remind her sternly, and then I flick my wrists toward them, and they poof away to the City.

I sigh as they go, and then I sink to the ground and take in a deep breath.

"Seto?" asks a nervous Brice, and I force a smile.

 _"Sano,"_ I breathe, and the small amount of damage done to me by the random Dark Mage disappears. "Yes, Brice?" I ask, standing up again.

He shakes his head in disbelief. "That was…"

"Terrible, I know."

"Adorable!"

"Are you kidding me right now."

"No, I just- That was so _cute!_ Like, you act all tough and everything, but then you go and save these little- girls, right? And that was just so sweet, and, like-"

"I obliterated their captor," I say dryly. "While you were neither hearing nor seeing the damage, I can assure that that event was _not_ sweet."

"It was _heroic!"_ Brice squeals, clapping his hand. "You totally saved them! Who _knows_ what the Dark Mages wanted them for! Could've been, like, ransom, maybe, if they were related to a Light Mage or something, or-"

"Brice."

He freezes mid-sentence and looks up at me in confusion.

"I am not a hero," I tell him flatly. "Sorry."

"But you totally are-"

"I'm not. I never have been, and I never will be. I _can't_ be. I'm the _Dark Sorcerer._ I'm _Addicted._ I can't be anything but bad while I'm like this."

Brice frowns. "But that wasn't bad- Well, why don't you just… not be like that, then?"

"What?"

"Stop using dark magic. You can be the Light Sorcerer instead!"

I bite the inside of my cheek for a moment, not stopping until I taste a small bit of blood. "I'm sorry, but it just doesn't work that way."


	5. Four: BAMF

_SORRY FOR SCREWING UP DAILY UPDATES XD BUT LIKE OK GUYS_

 _I HAVE WRITTEN **SO MUCH**_

 _LIKE I'VE WRITTEN ALMOST THE ENTIRE BOOK NO JOKE_

 _THE MIDDLE, THE END..._

 _BUT NOT THE REST OF HTE BEGINNING. XD SORRY , SORRY! I'LL TRY TO GET IT WRITTEN SO DAILY UPDATES CAN CONTINUE._

 _ALSO, JSYK: THIS BOOK IS TURNING OUT TO BE QUITE SHORT, SO PERHAPS, LIKE, 25-30k WORDS!? IDK, WE'LL SEE!_

 _EN-JUH-HOY, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS!_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 4: "BAMF"**

We've been walking in uncomfortable silence for a little over an hour now, and I'm hoping to Jeb that we're almost to the nearest Dark Mage base, since I'm too afraid to either ask or read Brice's mind.

Yikes, why did I agree to this? This was such a bad idea. Of course, I _could_ just back out of the agreement now, except now Brice knows where my house is located. Bad thing. He could tell the Light Mages if I refuse to help him. I could always just kill the poor guy, too, but…

But.

"Hey, Seto?" Brice asks quietly, so quietly I barely hear him.

I glance toward him but don't say anything, and he takes a deep breath.

"Who told you you could only be bad?"

My breath hitches, and I almost skid to a halt before reminding myself to keep moving, to avoid making a big deal out of it. It's just a question. "That's not something you should be concerning yourself with," I finally answer.

"Too late," he says under his breath, and I pretend not to hear it.

"Are we almost there?" I ask.

"Yeah. They usually aren't so far apart, but that base I was at was kind of out of the way, in a weird place."

"How'd you get locked up in there to begin with?"

He chuckles nervously. "I, uh… I'm a scout? For the Light Mages. And so I was scouting, and… and I got caught."

I frown. "You don't seem like the scouting type."

"Well, I'm not good at it, as you can see," he laughs. "But, uh… I wanted to help. And I couldn't possibly help in any other way."

"Why not? You've got magic. You've got _two_ types of magic. That's rare," I tell him, furrowing my eyebrows. Sure, he may not be the most _competent_ with his magic, but- I mean, he could be trained, right?

I could train him.

No, I couldn't, I'm the _Dark Sorcerer._ I'm bad. And scary. And terrible. Can't be a friend, and can't be a mentor. Can't be anything but the Dark Sorcerer. That's just who I am.

"And, anyways, I'm just not good enough to be in any other position," Brice finishes, and I try to hide the fact that I missed out on half his words.

"Not good enough. Hmph."

"Don't rub it in."

"Sorry. But can't you just learn to be better? It isn't hard."

"It is for me," Brice says, sounding small, and my frown deepens.

"Do you know the spells?"

"Some of them, I guess."

"What's the spell for levitation."

"Uh, _volito."_

"Why didn't you levitate when you said that?"

"I- I was just telling you the spell. I wasn't casting it."

"So cast it."

"I- Um…" Brice winces, and I call off our swiftness spell and let us skid to a halt.

"Go ahead."

"Uh- _Volito."_

Nothing happens.

"Come on. You're a sorcerer. Cast the spell."

 _"Volito."_

"Cast the spell, Brice."

"Seto, I-"

"Cast the spell."

 _"Volito!"_ Brice looks close to tears.

 _"Cast_ the _spell!"_

"Seto, I _can't!"_ Brice yells, and then he chokes on a sob and steps back a little, looking down.

"I told you to cast the spell," I say quietly, zipping up closer to him so that our faces are no more than an inch apart. His breath hitches. "I believe that you can and will cast the spell.

"So why don't _you_?" I breathe.

Brice is quiet as he stares into my eyes, likely looking for any sign that this is a joke.

"Cast the spell," I say.

" _Vol-"_

"Approaching entities!" shouts a booming voice from about fifty meters away, and I curse under my breath and jump away from Brice as I turn to face the noise.

"Brice, duck!" I yell roughly, taking in the small army in front of us. There are about fifteen Dark Mages approaching, all of them with matching armored cloaks and very angry expressions. Brice ducks down right before one of the mages can blast his head off, and I growl as I fire a counterattack.

"Seto, we can't possibly take them all!" He tries and fails to cast a spell. _"You_ can't possibly take them all!"

"Watch me," I scoff, creating an orb of electricity in my hands. I fire it at the approaching Mages as soon as it's big enough, but they block it with plenty of time to spare. _"Cadent, et moriar!"_ I chant, and that manages to take out a few of them.

 _"Quarere, debilito!"_ screams one of the Mages, and I grit my teeth and hold up my arms in the shape of a cross.

 _"Scutum, cogita!"_ The spell bounces off of me and hits the caster, and Brice cheers. " _Cadent, et moriar! Spatium range quinque!"_

Two Mages go down, but the rest of them are far too close for comfort. _"Telum!"_ one of them shouts, and I hold up a shield to reflect the blades but then furrow my eyebrows in confusion as the spell flies past me.

My eyes widen. _"Brice!"_

He cries out in pain, and I force myself to focus on our attackers instead of getting distracted by Brice. They're surrounding us now, and I panic internally for a moment. I can't keep fighting, I have no clue how badly Brice is hurt.

"Cast the spell!" I command, hoping to Notch that he can do it. _"Liquefacta massa! Volito!"_

The ground is quickly replaced by lava, and I fly out of range just as the Dark Mages catch on fire. _"Northmanni iterum!"_ I yell, and the ground returns to normal, trapping the Dark Mages (and hopefully not Brice) underground and still on fire.

I spin around, breath held in suspense, and laugh in relief when I see Brice falling back down to the ground. "Thank Jeb," I mumble, hoping he can't hear it.

"Ha- Uh- I did it!" Brice laughs nervously, slowly getting to his feet.

"Oh, dear. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, totally- er- well, maybe not so much-"

"I'll heal you," I say, raising a hand, but Brice's eyes go wide and he cuts me off.

"No! Um, can we do a potion instead?"

"I suppose so. I only brought one, however, since I expected to use nothing but healing spells when damage was done." I narrow my eyes. "Why?"

"Oh, n-no reason! I just- magic, you know, you're probably tired-"

"I am not tired."

"Good! Let's keep it that way!"

I roll my eyes. "Hmm. Here, take this, then." I pull a pink potion out of my bottomless backpack and hand it to an unsteady Brice, who downs it and then grins suspiciously at me. Right.

"On to this base, then?" I ask in an attempt to make him feel less uncomfortable. "It seems this place's only defense is now either dead or on fire."

"U-Uh, yeah, I guess," he replies, jogging to catch up to me as I stride toward the base. "I guess we'll just, like, take out the leaders?"

"If you think that's what's best, then, yes, we will."

"Don't put that kind of pressure on me!"

"Fine. We'll 'take out' the leaders, as you put it."

"Awesome!" Brice cheers, smiling brightly, and I have to look away to avoid matching his happy expression. Dang it, Brice. "This is so cool, oh my Notch, I'm basically your sidekick. We're saving the world!"

I roll my eyes as we walk underneath a wide stone arch. "Sure. Which of these buildings would the leaders be more likely to reside in?" I ask, glancing around at all the buildings inside this fort. Many of the buildings have pointed roofs with little slots scattered about, and I assume these are for shooting either arrows or spells out of. An arrow shoots out of one of the building's slots and only barely avoids hitting Brice in the shoulder, which confirms my assumption, and I sigh. "Suppose we should check out that building, first, then."

Brice laughs nervously, rubbing his shoulder, and I walk ahead of him to the building on our right, the one from which the arrow was shot. "Who goes there?" booms a loud, commanding voice as we approach the tall wooden door. "State your business!"

"I and my partner have traversed the ragged plains for days in order to reach your fort," I reply, matching his tone. "Ultimately, we have come to wreck everything."

There's a short, stunned silence, and then arrows come shooting rapidly out of every slot in the building. I huff and wave my hand, allowing a thin shield to come up around me and Brice. "Open the door, Brice."

He shrugs and pulls on the handle.

"No," I sigh, "use a _spell._ "

"Uh- _Open Sesameeeee,"_ Brice says unsurely, looking up at me.

"Dear Notch. _Aperiesque ostium!"_ I chant, and the door swings open. Without any hesitation, Brice and I march inside.

Inside the building is a single Mage who spins on his heels and darts up the stairs the moment he sees us entering. The rest of the building _seems_ be empty – I suppose the archers must be on the second floor, or the attic, perhaps. "Stop!" Brice shouts, running after the Mage, and I shake my head as I follow him. The stairs creak beneath our weight, which seems like a big deal in a fort that could, at any given moment, be under attack. Shouldn't this place be a tad sturdier? Well. If it makes my job easier, then what do I care?

An arrow flies between a few strands of my hair as we approach the second floor, which clearly signifies that my spell has ended. "Stop!" Brice says again. "This is your warning!"

The Dark Mage we saw earlier laughs in the middle of the room, as if he wasn't running from us mere moments ago. "And what if we refuse?" he asks cockily as every archer in the room turns toward us and notches an arrow.

"Suppose you'll just have to find that out on your own, should you choose not to stop as my partner has commanded," I reply calmly, staring right into his eyes. Mentally, I cast a spell that makes my eyes flicker red, since I've seen in the past that this seems to have quite the effect on my enemies.

The Mage swallows hard and then thinks for a moment, not wanting to answer incorrectly. "What should we stop?"

"Stop the war. You aren't the biggest fort out there, I'm sure, but you must have contact with your higher-ups. Tell them to bring the war to a halt. They will not win. It is better to surrender with few casualties than it is to lose with many."

"Wise words from a kid."

"Tch. I'm twenty-three."

"Oh my Jeb, I'm older than you!" Brice laughs. "Haha, that's great! You can stop calling me a kid now."

"Shut up, kid." I turn my attention back to the Mage. "Regardless of either of our ages, our power levels are undeniably higher than yours."

The Mage crosses his arms. "Oh?" He smirks. "Prove it."

"Yes, sir," I reply, blasting him straight through the wall. He yells in surprise as he flies through the air, carrying plaster and a few shingles from the low-hanging part of the roof with him. "Well! What a lovely departure. Would anyone else like to follow him?" I ask the archers.

"One, two, go!" one of them shouts, and then all – what, twenty? – of them fire their arrows at me and Brice.

"S-Seto!" Brice cries out, covering his eyes as I cast a silent spell.

A few silent seconds pass.

"U-Um- Seto?" Brice asks, putting his hands down. His eyes go wide when he sees me holding each and every one of the arrows in my hands.

"Caught them," I say simply, smirking at the boy.

"No way."

"Slowed down time."

"Holy crap!"

"Indeed. Archers, is that enough for you?" I ask, turning back to them all. Half of them are shaking in their boots, while the other half is just staring at me in awe. "Hmm. Well, off you go, then!"

Not wanting to walk past me and Brice to get down the stairs, the archers hop out of the hole left by the Mage's departure, and I laugh as I walk up to the edge of it. "Excuse me, before you go? Is there anyone else here?" I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth as I lean out of the house.

A few archers frantically shake their heads before running, even faster now, away from the Mage's fort.

"You are _such_ a bamf," Brice breathes, having walked up behind me.

"Mm," I say, and, if we're being honest, I almost expect him to push me out the gaping hole in the wall. He _is_ technically a Light Mage, after all. After seeing such powerful Dark magic, well – of course he'd want me gone.

"Yay! Time to go, then! That was so much fun!" He doesn't push me.

Of course. Brice is simply too smart for that.


	6. Five: Careless

_SO APPARENTLY MY BROTHER GOT ONTO MY YOUTUBE ACCOUNT SOMEHOW_

 _AND HE POSTED LIKE SIX VIDEOS OF HIMSELF AND HIS COUSIN DOING WEIRD CRAP!? XD_

 _HE POSTED A PRIVATE VIDEO AS WELL_

 _AND HES ALL LIKE "SMACK THAT LIKE BUTTON! CRACK IT INTO PIECES! OW, I FELL OVER! DO YOU WANNA SEE MY BIG FAT BUTT?"_

 _I_

 _WHAT_

 _XD_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 5: "Careless"**

"So where's the next base?" Brice asks, bouncing around excitedly as we walk back under the wide arch.

"You're the scout. You tell me."

"O-Oh. Um, well, I guess if we just keep heading past _this_ base, there has to be another one soon, right?"

"Let's find out," I say, shrugging as I cast another swiftness spell.

"Haha, see? I was totally right!" Brice laughs upon seeing the Dark Mage base in the distance. We're, say, ten minutes from reaching the place-

I freeze as unwanted visions assault my mind.

"Seto..?"

"We're going back!" I yell, whirling around and starting toward my house again, casting a very powerful speed spell on Brice and myself as I go.

"Wait- What!?" He races along beside me, expression one of confusion. "B-But the next base is right there-"

"No, I've something to take care of."

"And you couldn't have taken care of it back when you got your new cloak?"

"It wasn't a problem then," I growl, speeding up even more. _"Celerito! Celerito! Celerito!"_

"T-Too fast, Seto!" Brice shouts as we dart across the plains.

"Not fast enough!" I respond. _"Celerito!"_

"S-Seto- Oh, Jeb-" he complains as we enter my forest and he runs into several pieces of nature.

"HALT!" I boom, and Brice and I skid to a stop in the clearing.

He exhales slowly and then glances around. "W-We did all that for some random kid?"

"What's the matter, friend?" I ask gently, crouching down in front of a crying Danielle.

"I-I- I, Um- I-"

"Yes?"

She lets out a sob. "T-There are scary magic people like you coming in through the b-back of the City, exc-cept they aren't secretly nice l-like you are!"

"I'm not secretly nice," I say out of habit before returning to the subject at hand. "Why are you here?"

"B-Because- Because t-they're taking over, a-and I- The Light Mages won't help because they're t-too busy fighting somewhere else, a-and the scary not-nice people took over my house and they locked Jenny in her room and I-I escaped b-but I, I didn't know where else to go b-because no one else in the City likes me much and plus they're all trapped anyways, but then I re- re- I 'membered you a-and so I ran to the forest but I got lost and-" She bites her tiny lip and then lurches forward so that her face is buried in my cloak, and my eyes go wide.

"Hug her!" Brice mouths sharply, so I slowly wrap my arms around the crying girl.

"Hey, shh, it's all right, dear. What say I go get rid of all the scary people?" I ask softly, rubbing circles into her back.

She mumbles something that must be affirmative as she nods into my cloak.

"Well. Apologies for the slight detour, Brice, but Danielle here seems to need my help."

" _Our_ help."

I smile a tiny bit. "Yeah."

Danielle sniffles, so I lift her up into my arms and carry her towards my house.

"How did you even know she needed help?"

"I enchanted the forest so that when someone enters it, I am notified," I respond, and Brice shrugs.

"Wait, I thought we were going to the City?" Brice shouts, jogging to catch up with me.

"Well, of course! But, first, the house. I don't intend to let Danielle sit defenseless in the middle of a battleground."

"Who's gonna watch her?"

"I'll sort it out," I say as I weave around a tree and finally open the door to my house. "Sorry, Danielle, but I'll have to set you down for a moment," I apologize, lowering her gently onto the couch. She sniffles, rubs her eyes, and nods, and I frown as I open up the basement. "Up we go!" I say, lifting her up into the air again. "Look here, Danielle, look how exciting this place is!"

"Woah," Brice breathes, taking in the room's new appearance.

I've last-minute child-proofed the place and cast a spell so that it will cater to Danielle's wants and needs, and so when we take our last step down the spiral staircase, we look up to see the whole room covered in light blue wallpaper and neon orange carpeting. Well. There are also piles of stuffed animals scattered about, and a collection of videogames next to a TV and console in the corner. (The room appears considerably smaller, now, so as not to frighten Danielle with its daunting size.)

"Bathroom to your left, mini-fridge to your right-" I pause as I set her down on a pile of pillows and stuffed toys. "Do you have any allergies?"

She shakes her head.

"Lovely! Now, you just go on ahead and make yourself at home, and Brice and I will be back in, say, an hour or so? Yes. Don't be alarmed if the staircase disappears when I leave; it will reappear if you need it again."

"Y-You're leaving?" she asks, her lip trembling, and I crouch down in front of her once more.

"Only for a bit, friend," I assure her, smiling as warmly as I can manage. "You'll be safe here while Brice and I take care of the scary people."

"Okay, but make sure you don't forget about me!" Danielle says, waggling her finger at me, and I try not to laugh. "And make sure you r- r- Make sure you 'member to help Jenny out of her room!"

"Yes, ma'am, right away," I promise her, but she still looks unsure.

"Pinky promise?" Danielle asks hopefully, looking up at me.

"Absolutely," I reply coolly, holding out a hand and intertwining my smallest finger with hers. Notch, kids are adorable.

This will _obliterate_ my reputation.

Unfortunately, I pinky promised.

"What if she chokes?"

"I enchanted the house."

"Oh. What if we don't come back?"

"We will."

"How do you know?"

"Trust me. I don't lose."

"I do! Maybe I should've stayed back, I'm going to hold you down."

"You imply that your disablement would slow me. I assure you, I will not risk the City's safety, nor my own, simply because you have fallen."

"O-Oh."

"On the other hand, I won't allow you to fall in the first place."

Brice glances over at me and looks me up and down appraisingly. "Thank you, Seto."

I avert my eyes. "Don't mention it."

We're both silent as I ninja us through the City walls, but Brice gasps when he sees the damage. There are houses burning with dark auras, there are people cowering in the streets with nowhere else to go. It's a total mess.

"D-Don't hurt me!" a citizen begs as I approach, and I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not one of your attackers."

"Then who are you?" he asks in confusion.

"I am the Dark Sorcerer."

"Oh no," he groans.

"As a favor for a friend, I have come to restore the City."

His eyes widen. "W-Well- Thank you! But the City is so large, and there are so many Dark Mages-"

"And I shall have no trouble besting them all," I reply.

"That sounded so bamf," Brice whispers, giggling slightly, and I roll my eyes.

"Do you know a family with two children named Jenny and Danielle?"

"Uh..."

"My apologies," I snarl, "Jenny and _Danny."_

"O-Oh! Yeah, um, they live around the corner, that way."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

I spin around and walk calmly in the direction he specified, and Brice scrambles after me. "Hold on, are we just gonna rush in?"

"Yes. Objections?"

"Uh, no, I guess."

"Calm down. I'll protect you."

"I-I wasn't-"

"Yes, you were. Speed up, friend, I do believe this is the house we want."

I ease open the door as quietly as possible as I cast a quick cloaking spell on Brice and myself. Then I sneak inside and press against the wall, silently shushing Brice as I go.

"How long will we stay here?" asks an impatient male voice.

"'Till the boss gets here," answers another male, this one from somewhere in the house's upstairs area.

"Follow me," I mouth to Brice (he can see me since he's invisible, too). Then I dash into the next room, holding my cloak close to my body so it won't swish around and make noise.

"Well, I think this is dumb," the impatient Mage huffs as my eyes lock on him in the middle of the living room.

"Whatever. Is the kid still in there?"

"Yeah, obviously. How would she ever escape?"

So Jenny is somewhere on this floor, likely in a room that leads off of this one. Mentally, I cast a mimicking spell, and then I yell, "Good! Now get up here and help me with this!" in the second Mage's voice.

The first Mage grumbles and stomps upstairs, and I begin to walk around to all the doors, jiggling each doorknob as I go. Finally, I find one that's locked, and so I cast a lock-picking spell and barge in.

"L-Leave me alone!" Jenny whimpers, huddled in the corner of the room next to a bed with pink covers. But then I call off the invisibility spell, and her eyes widen when she recognizes me. Then she furrows her eyebrows angrily.

"Jenny..?" I ask quietly.

"You're with them!" she cries, standing up and glaring at me. "Danielle trusted you, but you're with them!"

"I- Hush, Jenny. I'm not with the people who attacked your house; rather, I am here to get you out."

Her eyes go even wider. "Then you- Danielle actually found you!? And you- you came?"

"Indeed. And I brought assistance, as well," I add, gesturing to Brice. "I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all! Thank you thank you thank you, mister!"

"Call me 'Seto,'" I say quietly as she wraps her tiny arms around my waist.

"Oh my Jeb. Literally, like, that was so cute," Brice breathes, staring at me. I raise an eyebrow, and he blushes and looks away. Uh, right. Okay, then. His problem, not mine.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Jenny whispers, and Brice blushes even more.

"No, he's just an accomplice," I reply, shrugging it off as I take Jenny's small hand in mine. "Hurry, now, we ought to be leaving before-"

Brice squeaks fearfully, and I drop Jenny's hand and spin around.

"And who have we here?" asks a Dark Mage, presumably the one who was originally upstairs, since I don't recognize him.

"Someone who will finally put up a fight," I reply, glancing over at Brice in concern. The Mage has got his elbow hooked around Brice's neck, and said Mage is smirking as though he has already won. "I won't risk losing simply to keep him safe," I tell the Mage as I nod toward Brice.

"Oh?" the Mage asks, raising his hand to cast a spell.

"Oh, dear," I sigh. "You've called my bluff. Now you'll just have to die." I raise my hands, mocking the Mage. "Cover your eyes, Jenny, dear!

 _"Mortem, et mors ultra!"_ I chant, and my dark purple magic shoots out of my hands and towards the Mage. Once reaching him, the magic wraps around him like a rope, and then it squeezes, squeezes.

And the Mage is dead.

Brice wiggles away from the corpse and then scrambles across the room to stand by me, and he's practically clinging to me, clenching his hand around the sleeve of my cloak, when he finally gets enough air to speak.

"I-I- I didn't expect you to save me," he breathes, closing his eyes.

I scoff. "Of course I saved you, moron."

"Just an accomplice, huh?" asks a smirking little girl.

"Hush, Jenny. Time to go, now, before the _other_ Mage shows up," I say, trying to change the topic. Let's not talk about my apparent weakness when it comes to Brice.

Let's not talk about how silently afraid I was, hearing his scared shriek.

"Too late!" yells the other Mage, and I huff and fire an instant death spell at him. Clean spell, won't leave much of a mess.

"Oh," Jenny squeaks, and I laugh nervously.

"Ah, sorry, dear. On the bright side, there isn't any blood."

"I don't think you're really helping," Brice says, strangely giddy.

"What's up with _you?"_ I ask, raising an eyebrow. Brice chuckles nervously, and as I turn away, I hear bits of a whispered conversation.

"Totally into you," Jenny whispers.

"Totally?" Brice asks in surprise. "You really think so?"

"Totally."

"Kids these days," I mumble as I stroll out of the room. "Jenny! Where's the rest of your family, dear?"

"Um..." She frowns. "I don't know!"

"All right, that's fine! We'll find them. Brice, you're in charge of protecting Jenny."

"M-Me?" he squeaks.

"Yes, you. Meanwhile, I'll be on the roof." Jenny tilts her head in confusion. "Better line of sight for spell casting, you see."

"Oh! Okay, be careful!" Jenny beams.

"I will."

Brice hugs me quickly before running outside, and I roll my eyes because it's not like I'm in any danger. Then I walk up the stairs, teleport through the roof, and spend point two seconds getting my balance on the shingled roof. I watch as Brice and Jenny run around a corner, hopefully looking for Jenny's parents.

Then I cast the spell.

It doesn't have to be too complicated, just something that will dispel the Dark Mages from the City grounds or punish the Dark Mages fiercely while also protecting the normal citizens. So, a target lock spell, then...

 _"_ _T_ _antum nocere magis tenebras. 'Dark Mages.' Tricesimo gradum in dolore. 'Admonitio.'"_

After a moment, a charged dome of magic extends out from around me, and the whole city sparkles purple. Several screams are heard from every direction.

And then I realize my mistake.

Dark Magic does not care for capital letters. It does not even notice such things.

And I am a dark mage.


	7. Six: Fearsome

_G **UYS GUYS I FINISHED WRITING THIS BOOK! :D**_

 _IT HAS LIKE 37000 WORDS, FIFTEEN CHAPTERS IN ALL_

 _ALSO I FINISHED REMEMBER ME, AND ILL BE POSTING HTE LAST CHAPTER OF THAT IN JUST A FEW MOMENTS!_

 _BUT SINCE IM NOW OUT OF BOOKS TO WRITE (shushes the people waiting for TWO, Feel, and Abibliophobia [but i act=ually might start working on those again]) ILL BE STARTING A **NEW** BOOK! THIS NEW BOOK IS ABOUT A SUPERHERO AND A SUPERVILLAIN WHO LIVE TOGETHER IN A FLAT ADN ARE BEST FRIENDS BUT DONT REALIZE IT BECAUSE OF SECRET IDENTITES AND CRAP AND THE HERO IS IN LOVE WITH THE VILLAIN AND TROUBLE HAPPENS AND ITS JUST REALLY COOL OK_

 ** _BUT_**

 _I NEED YOUR HELP, GUYS_

 _WHAT SHIP SHOULD I USE!? IM THINKING NOT SETOSOLACe, SINCE IVE JUST FINISHED THIS BOOK_

 _AND NOT SKYLOX, CUZ RRM_

 _BUT MAYBE MUNCHINGUNIVERSE, OR PHAN, OR MEROME_

 _OPINIONS, SUGGESTIONS?_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 6: "Fearsome"**

I cry out as I collapse to my knees, digging my fingernails into my scalp and gritting my teeth as hard as I can.

"This is your warning," my own voice speaks in my head, and I scream as another wave of pain hits and I tumble down the slanted roof.

A couple of shingles fall with me to the ground, and I yell again as I hit the concrete sidewalk. The pain continues, and my head feels like it's going to explode, my skin feels like it's on fire, it feels like I'm being stabbed everywhere all at once and I can't think long enough to force it away with a counter-spell.

"Seto!" yells a familiar voice, though I can't put my finger on exactly whose it is. "Seto, oh, Jeb!"

The person skids to a stop beside me and drops to their knees, and I groan and tug harshly on my hair. "Seto, are you okay? Say something, please!"

"I'm- f-fine-!" I gasp out, and the person shakes his head frantically and wraps his arms around me, trying to pull me to my feet. "N-No, stop, I'm- Agh!"

"Seto, Seto, I'm so sorry, how can I help!?"

"Can we do anything at all!?" asks a smaller, female voice.

"J-Just- let it- pass-" I gasp out, grinding my teeth together as I try to focus on the voices. Male and female. Brice and Jenny, yes!

"I-Is it over?" Brice asks nervously as he pulls away from me a little bit.

"N-No, that couldn't possibly be thirt-" I cut myself off with an agonizing shriek as the pain returns with twice the force. "B-Brice," I sob, reaching out my arms and making grabby hands, and Brice pulls me in close and hugs me tightly and rubs circles on my back and twirls my hair around his fingers and whispers tiny reassurances in my ear until it ends.

"I'm never casting a level thirty again," I mumble, my face still buried in Brice's chest. Suddenly realizing what I'm doing, I blush terribly as I jump away from Brice and nervously rub the back of my neck. "Ah, my apologies, Brice. I... handled that rather poorly."

Brice bites his lip for a moment and then gives me a sad half-smile.

"However, regardless..." I sigh. "Thank you, friend. You were... very helpful."

Brice smiles properly, and Jenny coos.

"So, what even was that?" Jenny asks after a few awkward moments.

"Well, I, ah, I cast a spell to punish all Dark Mages in the area and I wound up punishing myself as well. A silly mistake, my apologies."

"Ha! If everyone else felt what you did just then, then you must've totally just solved the City's entire problem!" Brice says excitedly, grinning at me. I smile back and hold out a hand to help him to his feet, and then I turn to Jenny.

"I do try. Jenny, did you locate your parents?"

She frowns. "Um, actually, no. I don't have any idea where they went!"

"Well, that's no trouble. What are their names, dear?"

"Um, Steve and Melissa Jenkins."

"So your name is Jenny Jenkins?" Brice asks, giggling slightly.

Jenny sighs. "Yeah."

"Best name, tenouttaten, would name again," Brice snorts, and I roll my eyes.

 _"Investigo Steve Jenkins, investigo Melissa Jenkins, search centum passuum radii,"_ I chant, pointedly ignoring Brice's nonsense. _"Dirige nos."_

A wispy purple trail appears in front of us, and I stride forward to find Jenny's parents. After a few shocked seconds, Jenny and Brice surge forward, as well, running at first in an attempt to catch up to me. "You are so cool!" Brice laughs, and I try not to glow. "Oh my Jeb, you're glowing." Well. "Are you okay?"

"Yes It's, ah... it's repairing my body."

"Looks like a magical blush to me," Jenny mutters, so I gently stomp on her foot, and she huffs and pretends to zip her mouth. "Whatever. Where are we going?"

"You know, you seemed a lot cuter when you were huddling in a corner," I huff.

"Whelp, now I actually feel safe, with you around, so you'll have to deal with the real me."

"Shame. How does your sister put up with you?"

"I'm the only one in our house that respects her pronouns and stuff."

"Seriously, what happened to the little girl who thought 'crap' was a bad word? It's like you've grown a couple years in a mere few weeks."

"I'm different around Danielle. It scares her when I don't speak in kinda high-pitched, gentle voices, and I kind of just baby her a lot because our parents don't."

"Ah. What _is_ the deal with your parents?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I glance over at her.

"They're just really old-fashioned, I guess? And Danielle is too young to understand why they won't stop buying her blue race car toys and things like that."

"The nerve of some people," I grumble, waving my hand at a Dark Mage as we pass him and killing him on the spot.

"It's fine, we're... working on them."

"Well, best of luck, dear. Perhaps I can be of some assistance?"

"Threats won't help."

"I have other methods of persuasion, you know."

"Please don't, like, mind-control my parents."

"That isn't what I meant."

Brice is a spluttering mess of laughter by the time we arrive at the end of the trail, because apparently our conversations are rather amusing to him. "Hush, now, Brice, we're here," I scold him as I look up at the large building before us. I've no idea what it's used for, so it must've been built sometime after I left the City.

"One of the storage buildings?" Jenny asks, tilting her head. "Why would they be here?"

I shrug. "If it can store supplies, then it can store people, too."

Jenny and Brice shiver, and I roll my eyes and ease open the door.

It's empty at first glance, and very quiet, so the three of us find ourselves tip-toeing out of habit. We follow the magic trail up a set of stairs and eventually come across a large, open room with boxes scattered everywhere. There are a few unconscious Mages on the floor, which gives me a good laugh, and when my laughter rings throughout the room, several citizens peek up from behind boxes.

Most of them wince when they see me, but Jenny's parents' eyes go wide, and they hop out from behind the boxes and run to embrace their daughter. "Jenny! Oh, sweetheart," her mother cries, hugging her tightly.

"Yes, Jenny is quite smart, helping us find you. You must be very proud," I say, looking down at the parents.

"Y-Yes, she's- she's very clever," the father replies, nodding nervously.

"Mm. Your other daughter - Danielle, was it? She's awfully brave. The small girl ventured into my terrible forest just to seek me out, and even then there was no guarantee that I would assist. Very brave, indeed. She is an admirable young girl."

The father swallows uncomfortably.

"That _is_ brave," says the mother, in total awe, seemingly not even noticing the pronouns. "My little baby - I'm so proud!"

"As you should be," I respond, trying to hide my smile.

"Wh-Where is..." The father swallows. "... my child?"

"Safe and sound, I assure you. My friend and I will leave and come back in a few minutes - with Danielle."

"Accomplice," Jenny scoffs, under her breath.

"So- Melissa, you know these men?" asks a woman who was brave enough to creep out from behind her shield of boxes.

"Yes," Melissa says, smiling up at me and Brice. "I do."

My eyes go wide. "Hold up, now, I'm not your friend!" I insist, taking a nervous step back. "I'm bad! I'm the Dark Sorcerer! F-Fear me!"

A few families chuckle, and a little boy squeals, runs out of his hiding place, and wraps his arms around my waist. "Funny!" he shouts.

I groan.

"So scary," Brice teases me, nudging my shoulder with his own, and I glare at him.

"I- Fine. I don't care. I will retrieve Danielle; meanwhile, Brice, you should actually stay here and find out why the Nether all these citizens were trapped here."

Before Brice can say a word, I teleport back to my house.

"Danielle!" I call out, running down the spiral staircase. "Jenny and your parents are just fine!"

When I catch sight of her, she's fast asleep in a pile of stuffed kangaroos, so I immediately shut up as I tiptoe over to her. "Ah, well." The little girl lets out a quiet snore, and I coo since there's no one around to tell me not to. When I'm alone, there is no one to shut me down when I _try_ to be a good person.

Well.

No one except myself.

I sigh as I lift the girl into my arms and begin carrying her up the stairs. Since she refuses to let go of a certain kangaroo plushie, I figure her parents won't mind all that much if she keeps it.

As soon as I've exited the house, I teleport back to the storage building.

"Ahahahahahahaha!" laughs a gravelly female voice.

"Shut up," I reply, rolling my eyes as I look up at her. She's a Dark Mage, no doubt, apparently too stupid to adhere to my warning.

The Mage laughs again and steps to the side, revealing Brice and Jenny bound by magic against the wall. "You came in with these two, right? You care about them?" the Mage asks loudly.

"Shut _up!"_ I hiss quietly, lightly stomping my foot.

"Unless you surrender this City back to its rightful owners - the Dark Mages - I _will_ kill your companions."

"Oh, for Jeb's sake!" I shout, seeing Danielle yawn and rub her eyes. "I _said,_ 'shut up!' Now you've woken this poor child."

The Mage raises an eyebrow, likely wondering exactly where my priorities lie.

I sigh in exasperation as I set Danielle down on the floor. Holding the kangaroo's leg with one hand and my hand with the other, she furrows her eyebrows and glares at the Dark Mage. "How come you tied up my friends?"

The Mage smirks. "I'm going to kill them unless your oldest friend will surrender."

"I'm older than him," Brice whines. I ignore him.

"I will not surrender. This City does not belong to you," I say firmly, looking straight into her eyes.

Her smile widens as she raises her hand. "Well, this should be fun."

I raise my hand in sync with hers, and Danielle cocks an eyebrow curiously and then drops her kangaroo and copies our actions. Adorable.

"Be smart about this," I advise the Mage. "I could end you in mere moments."

"Could you?"

"Indeed."

"Then do it." She turns her hand so that the palm of it is facing Jenny and Brice.

"My ple-"

"Oh," Danielle laughs as the Dark Mage collapses to the floor.

"Ah," I say nervously. "I, I didn't do that."

Jenny stares at Danielle in awe. "Seto, you're lying."

"I am not."

"You are, too!"

Brice shakes his head excitedly as the Mage's magic wears off, freeing him and Jenny. "No, he's totally not! He couldn't possibly have cast that spell, 'cause he hadn't finished his pretentious end-line yet!"

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"You were gonna say 'my pleasure,'" Brice laughs, standing up. "You can't end a battle without, like, a cool one-liner or something."

"I do _not_ use 'cool one-liners,'" I scoff.

"Hold up, so- _Danielle_ did that!?" Jenny asks, eyes wide.

"I did that?" Danielle asks, pointing at herself and then bending down to pick up her plushie again.

"Yes, I believe you did," I confirm, crouching down next to her. "You're a sorcerer. Did you know?"

She shakes her head, grinning happily. "No, I just pointed my hand like you and I thought 'be not alive please' and the mean lady fell down!"

My eyes go wide. "Oh, dear. Well, perhaps you ought to learn some proper sign language spells from the Light Mages."

She frowns. "How come?"

"Well, the 'just think about it' spells are quite dangerous, dear. They tend to use, ah... Dark magic. Not something you want yourself involved with."

Danielle bounces around. "Can _you_ teach me?"

"I don't cast Light anymore. I'm sorry."

"But you use actual spells all the time," Brice says, confused.

"I add 'actual spells' to Dark Magic in an effort to make it more powerful. Many Dark Mages do this, as well."

"You're a sorcerer!?" Danielle's father exclaims, seeming to come out of some shocked state. "And a _Dark_ one, too!?"

"She is not a Dark sorcerer," I growl at him. "Never tell her she is a Dark sorcerer. She is not."

"But she just cast-"

"No one is Dark until they are told they are Dark," I say threateningly. "Your daughter is not Dark. She is Light, unless _she_ decides otherwise."

"Yay!" Danielle giggles, and I smile down at her.

"This is so neat!" Danielle's mother cheers. "I'm sure you'll be a real Light Mage in no time at all, sweetie." Danielle glows under the praise.

"Well!" I say as a way of wrapping things up, and I'll admit that my smile is a tad strained, though I _am_ happy for Danielle.

"Wait! Before you go..." Many of the citizens stand up, with one man acting as a spokesperson for the group. "Thank you. You saved our City when the Light Mages wouldn't, and we won't soon forget that."

I try to hide my blush. "W-Well- ah, good for you. Brice and I really must be going now, things to do, you see. Goodbye, Jenny, Danielle!"

"Bye, Seto!" Jenny calls, and then she drops to her knees and begs her little sister to share some of her magic with her.

"Bye bye!" Danielle echoes as I grab Brice's hand and drag him toward the exit. "Thanks!"

"But didn't you want to know why they were all trapped in there-"

"You can tell me as we walk."

"But-"

"Just tell me," I sigh, pulling Brice toward the City Gates.

"The Dark Mages were holding most of the adults - uh, and some of the children - captive so no one could warn the Light Mages."

I frown. "I thought they _wanted_ the Light Mages to know? So they'd be distracted from the actual war."

Brice shrugs. "Maybe the _war_ is the distraction."

"Maybe so," I mumble, furrowing my eyebrows as I begin to zone out. Of course, the Dark Mages would want control of the City - but why, exactly? For more room? I thought they were doing fine, space-wise. The Burg is _huge,_ after all. No, it couldn't be for lack of space that they're attacking.

The Mages at the first base I found seemed to whole-heartedly believe that they were fighting for the right to use Dark magic outside of the Burg. And, while that seems likely, it doesn't provide any reason for the Dark Mages to be attacking the City as anything other than blackmail or a distraction.

Well - Blackmail, then. But even then, they would want the Light Mages to know, correct?

The Mages in Jenny's house seemed to think they were either threatening or distracting, but, obviously, neither is a very fitting solution to this tiny mystery.

I freeze.

"What's wrong?" Brice asks, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

"Someone is in my forest."

"Again?"

My eyebrows shoot up. " _Many_ someones are in my forest."

Brice tilts his head in confusion. "Uh... What?"

"We may have our answer marching toward us this very minute," I mutter.

"Wha-" Brice begins, and then I grab his hand and race us to the forest.


	8. Seven: Not an Idiot

_Having a bit of a down day, my apologies for no half-interesting/funny authors note stories. ^.^ I do hope you en-juh-hoy the chapter, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers, and I'll be posting more news on the superhero story later on._

 **Addict**

 **Ch 7: "Not an Idiot"**

"Has the great Dark Sorcerer gotten himself a boyfriend?"

Unfortunately, "No. Explain to me why there are uninvited guests in my forest," I growl, not yet dropping Brice's hand. He seems to be trembling a tad, anyways, so I figure it's for the best if we stay connected.

The leading Dark Mage laughs. "Oh, we're in _your_ _forest?"_ he asks patronizingly. "Rest assured, we'll be out in only a few minutes."

I raise an eyebrow. "Heading to the City, I assume?"

His expression relaxes. Because this is normal, everyday small talk, obviously. "Yes, sir. _Coming_ from the City?"

"Indeed." Brice has still not stopped shaking, so I sigh as I drop his hand and move to stand in front of him. "I happen to have made an acquaintanceship with a few of the Citizens," I say, crossing my arms.

The relaxed expression disappears. "I see. And you were... what were you doing in the City? Were you visiting your acquaintances?"

"As it happens, I was. They were having a bit of an, ah... issue."

His expression un-relaxes even further, turning stony. "And did you take care of the issue."

I let the question hang for a moment. Finally, after a long, tense silence, I smirk and say, "I did."

"BAH!" he rages, splaying his hands out toward me, and I fly backwards and crash into a tree. Luckily, Brice had the good sense to move out from behind me, but now he's on his knees next to me, babbling and scared. "Then that means - we were successful! The Light Mages had no idea, but you had to go and _ruin_ the whole thing!"

"Precisely," I cough out, and the rest of the Dark Mages, of which there are about thirty, glare at me and get into a fighting stance.

"Now, now," I say, ignoring Brice's hand and getting to my feet on my own, "let's all be calm about this. Would you like to explain _why_ your people had taken up temporary residence in the City? They didn't seem to be very peaceful."

"They weren't su _pposed_ to be peaceful!" the lead Mage roars. "They were _supposed_ to be capturing citizens so we could take them back to the Burg and make them our slaves!"

"Good Notch, going back a few thousand centuries, are we?" I ask, pushing Brice away in the hope that he'll stop bothering me about my health. "Sorry, pal, but our current time period isn't big on slaves."

His face has turned bright red, and his men look ready to pounce. "I don't _care!"_ He grinds his teeth together. "First you take out our prophesiers stationed near 'your' precious forest, then you interrupt and badly damage one of my Kidnappers, then you take out another _huge_ fort-" He growls. "Why'd you hafta get involved?"

"What can I say?" I smile sweetly. "I like the drama."

"ATTACK!" the Mage screams, and all of his Mages fire at me all at once.

"The spell!" I bark out, and Brice mumbles a rushed _"Volito!"_ and then shouts in surprise as he flies above the firing range and watches every single spell hit me.

"Seto!" he cries, but I yell at him to keep his stupid face up there, and then I mumble a healing spell and thank Notch that none of those offensive spells were Instant Death.

"You've a bit of a temper, haven't you?" I laugh, struggling to my feet and then immediately getting knocked down again by a second flurry of spells. "Let me _speak,_ dang it!" I roar, flying towards my attackers and blasting them all with a spell that encases them in an inescapable see-through bubble. I let out a long, slow breath and let my eyes fall closed. "Now then!" I say, my eyes flying open. "Let's have a civil chat, shall we?"

"Missed one," says the lead Mage, who has somehow dodged my attack. He points a hand at Brice, who squeaks where he floats. "Release them and surrender, or I will hurt your friend."

"Define hurt."

"I will _tear him apart."_

"Ah." I wave a hand behind my back so that he can't see. "And what happens once I surrender?"

"You come with us. Since we don't have a load of citizens to bring back with us, we will bring you instead. You will stay in a prisoner's cell in one of the most powerful Dark forts. We will torture you until you have no other choice but to either step out of the war or help us."

Brice's eyes go wide, and he frantically shakes his head.

"I can't let you get hurt," I say dramatically.

Slowly, I lower my hands and head. The bubble around the Mages disappears.

The lead Mage laughs and shoots a spell at Brice.

It bounces off, because "I'm not an _idiot!"_ I laugh almost hysterically, leaning over and clutching my stomach. "Ah, but you folks sure are. He's protected. _I'm_ protecting him. However, you can go ahead and escort me to this 'most powerful Mage fort.' I'd like to see it."

"You-"

"I won't make a fuss, I promise! Brice will come with us, of course. He will not leave my sight. If, at any point and for any reason, he _does,_ then I will promptly blow up the whole lot of you."

"This seems risky," one of the Mages says nervously.

The lead Mage, who seems to be a bit of an idiot, laughs loudly. "Nonsense! This is the chance of a lifetime! Boys, tie up the sorcerer's friend."

"Tie up? Oh, no, that's hardly necessary. Brice will be good, won't you, Brice?"

"Y-Yes," he squeaks, slowly lowering himself to the ground.

"Well, there you have it. Now, Brice will walk either in front of me or next to me, but never behind me, and if I see any of you gentlemen harming him, disciplinary measures _will_ be taken, as I mentioned before. Understood?" I ask, holding out my hands for them to tie.

"We will... _allow_ you this one luxury. But that's all!" the lead Mage splutters.

"Lovely, I do appreciate your hospitality. Say, while you're at it with the whole hospitality deal, could you get me an ice cold water?"

"You sure do push your luck," Brice says quietly, and I laugh.

"Only because I can afford to."

"Tie up the sorcerer!" the lead Mage shouts angrily.

I tilt my head slightly as they yank my arms roughly forward and bind them together with magic. "Yikes. All right, then. Excuse me, but while we're conversing, may I ask why there are no female Mages in this group? I know of some very powerful women in this area who could certainly put up an interesting fight against me."

The Mage binding me yanks me forward again, and I grit my teeth as I fall to my knees in the dirt. "We're far stronger than them."

"Wow. You really _are_ going back a few thousand centuries." I roll my eyes and look up at them. "We're past that, buddy."

"There was a second group preparing to follow us if we failed. They're the better casters, and most of the women are in that group," mumbles one of the Mages.

Brice bursts into laughter.

One of the Mages lurches toward Brice, but his feet freeze in place before he can touch the cowering boy. "Not a finger will be laid on him," I remind the Mage, waiting for his nod of agreement before I thaw his feet. "Brice, come here."

Eyes wide, Brice scurries to my side, hiding behind me slightly.

"Hush, it's all right. You'll stay by me, yes? I will protect you."

Brice throws his arms around me, and my own eyes go wider than Brice's were. "Thank you, Seto," he whispers in my ear, and I have to fight not to shiver in front of the Mages. But, Notch, his hot breath on my skin... "Are you sure this is okay? I'd be super scared if _I_ were 'captured' by these guys."

I smile softly. "It's okay, Brice. I've everything under control."

He pulls back and grins at me, and I give up and grin back.

"What a cute little moment," the lead Mage snarls. "Justin, guide the sorcerer along."

The Mage binding me smirks and yanks me up off my knees, and I give him a polite warning glare. "You know, you're quite rough, and Brice and I have been on the road for quite a while," I say, casting a mental spell that traps me and Brice inside a see-through pink bubble. Brice laughs as the bubble floats us up a few feet in the air, and I sit down, cross my legs Indian style, and reach up to pull Brice down next to me. Justin the Mage furrows his eyebrows and tries to pull me forward with his magic, and the entire bubble goes floating peacefully after him with me and Brice inside. "I think we'll just stay up here and relax, if you don't mind."

"We mind," Justin huffs.

"Oh. Well, in that case, screw you."

Brice laughs harder and scoots closer to me, and I try to hide my blush when he puts his hand on my thigh. Dang it, Seto, you're the world's most powerful sorcerer! Not to mention - you're a _dark_ sorcerer! You have no place falling in love with this boy, this boy who is pure and light and untainted, this boy who does not deserve to be wrapped up in your sorcery.

"Giddy up," I say dryly, looking at Justin.

He groans and begins the journey.

* * *

For a while, we just sit quietly and observe the Dark Mages.

They walk briskly, always looking ahead, though Justin seems to have a habit of glancing back at me and Brice. The lead Mage is in the front of the group, _leading,_ as he should be, and since he can't reprimand Justin, Justin's fellow Mages take the job instead.

Poor Justin.

"Hey, Seto?"

I look over at Brice. "Hmm?"

"Um, thank you for, like, saving me and then helping with the war and all that."

I smile, which is something I've done more in the past few days than in the past five years. "My pleasure, in the end."

Brice is positively glowing.

A few minutes pass, and Brice is drooping.

"U-Um... Seto?"

"Yes, Brice?"

"Uh- It's kind of been a while since we slept, you know, and... Could I lay my head on your lap maybe?" He winces as though afraid I'll push him away.

As the dark sorcerer that I am, I really _should_ push him away.

But I don't.

"Yes. Go ahead, Brice."

He beams at me and then gets into position, carefully laying his head on my lap and almost curling up into a ball on his side. Oh Jeb. That's fricking adorable.

There is silence for a few moments.

"Hey, Seto?"

"Yes?"

"Could you, uh, sorry, but could you maybe, like, pet my hair? I'd be super grateful and it helps me fall asleep and-"

He purrs as I run my fingers through his hair.

Hot _dang._

"Thank you, Seto."

"My pleasure."

A few minutes pass, and I think he's finally drifted off to sleep, when suddenly...

"We _are_ friends, right, Seto?"

My eyes go wide. "Ah- Yes, I suppose so."

He clenches a fist nervously around the fabric of my cloak, though his head is still in my lap, and he's still got his eyes closed, I think. "Do you like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like that we're friends."

I frown for a moment. I shouldn't like it. I shouldn't. I am Dark, and I should not be tainting the Light.

But it has been an awfully long time since I have had a friend.

And Brice, if you ask me, is turning out to be one Nether of a partner.

"Yes," I blurt before I can overthink it even more, "I do like it. I like _you."_

The silence returns.

Finally, Brice whispers, "I like you, too."

And then he falls asleep.

It's entirely quiet now. Nothing to fill the silence, nothing but my own thoughts, and suddenly all I can think about is _them,_ the people I trusted right up until the point I couldn't anymore. All I can think about is _Ty,_ falling asleep whilst leaning against my shoulder, tired from a long day of fun; _Jason,_ ranting about animal cruelty but then smiling apologetically and shutting up when I pointed at Ty's sleeping form; the rest of my friends gathered around us, laughing good-naturedly at Jason's embarrassed blush.

Oh, Notch, I miss them.

Forget it, Seto! Forget them. Why can't I forget them? They aren't coming back. They wouldn't _take_ me back if _I_ returned to _them._ They don't want me anymore. I doubt they ever wanted me in the first place.

I take a deep breath, bury my fingers in Brice's hair, and try to fall asleep with him.


	9. Eight: Temperamental

_WHAT TIME IS IT_

 _STORY TIME!_

 _OKAY SO MY LIL SIX YR OLD BROTHER AND I WERE WATCHING VOLTRON (bastille sings in the background "OBSESSION, IT TAKES CONTROL")_

 _AND PEYTON (my bro)_

 _HE LIKE_

 _WHEN THE BATTLE CAME, ADN THE GOOD GUYS WERE LOSING, PEYTON ROLLED OFF THE COUCH,LET OUT A SOB, AND WENT LIMP, ADN WHEN HE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE HEROES GETTING THEIR BUTTS KICKED AGAIN, HIS LEGS AND ARMS SHOT UP INTO THE AIR AND THEN HE SCREAMED AND JUMPED UP AND STARTED RUNNING AROUND THE LIVING ROOM IN CIRCLES._

 _I AM RAISING A FANBOY._

 _IS THAT AWESOME OR WHAT XD_

 _ANYWAYS, EN-JUH-HOY THIS CHAPTER, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS! YOU GET TO MEET ONE OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS IN THIS CHAPTER - AN OC, SORRY ABOUT THAT BUT ITS RATHER AMUSING, I THINK, AND SHE DOESNT STAY FOR LONG XD_

 ** _Update: I have edited parts of this chapter to include a tiny bit more insight for crashes and another plot point which may be used in a possible sequel. ideas being tossed around. apologies for the change._**

 **Addict**

 **Ch 8: "Temperamental"**

"For the love of Notch!" shouts an angry-sounding voice.

My eyes flick open, slowly, slowly, and I shift a little. But something's holding me down-

Ah, yes. Brice. I'd forgotten.

I glare at the rather loud Dark Mages as they pound against our bubble. "Hush," I tell them sharply.

"You're lucky we don't kill you here and now!" Justin the Mage growls.

I mock him, using my hand as a puppet, and then I cast a mental spell that lands him in the middle of nowhere.

"Teach you to hit on _my_ bubble," I mutter.

"Seto?" asks a small, sleepy voice, and my eyes go wide. "What's going on?"

Brice yawns as he sits up and then turns around to look at me. Then he sees the twenty-nine Mages surrounding us and chuckles nervously.

"Well. You've woken up, my apologies. But they _did_ want us both awake, I believe,"I say quietly,destroying the bubble but catching Brice before he can hit the ground. "Sorry."

He laughs even more nervously as I lower him to the ground. "Haha! N-No problem! Oh, geez," he replies in a high-pitched voice.

I raise an eyebrow. "All right?"

"Perfectly fine!"

"Right. Now,gentlemen, what did you want with us?" I ask the Mages.

"Where did you send Justin!?" asks one of the Mages.

"I'm not entirely sure. Somewhere north of the Burg."

The lead Mage shakes his head in disapproval as he approaches me and Brice. "Regardless, it is time for Seto to be introduced to his cell."

"Mm, yes. Brice will accompany me, since I don't trust him with you fools."

"Fine," says the lead Mage, smirking as though he knows something I don't. "I'm sure he'll like that."

Brice bites his lip and taps my shoulder. "Um, I don't think- Something seems weird-"

"Shh, everything will be fine, Brice. Recognize the base?"

His eyes light up a tad. "It's the one we were going to before Danielle needed help!"

"Indeed. So, here we are, on the right track again as though we'd never left."

He frowns, unsure. "But, still..."

"Follow me!" barks the lead Mage as he turns and walks briskly toward an iron building. The area we're in now seems to be the yard – our bubble must have been too large to fit through the prison door. So, without much hesitation, I stroll after the Dark Mage, and Brice runs along a few feet behind me.

Several minutes later, we've finally arrived in front of a large, empty cell. The Mage pushes me inside roughly, and I grit my teeth as I fall to the jagged concrete floor, barely managing to catch myself with my hands. Brice is pushed in next, falling right next to me with tears in his eyes, and so I stop gritting my teeth and decide to let my anger out instead.

"Don't _hurt_ him!" I roar, jumping up and spinning to face the Mages who pushed us in. "He is _not_ to be harmed, do you under _stand!?"_

"Oh,right, I forgot," says the lead Mage. Ha. _Forgot._ I'll make him _wish_ he could forget. He yanks awhimpering Brice to his feet and pulls him out of the cell, and I growl and reach forward-

The door slams shut, and ten or so Dark Mages file into the cell through a door behind me. I frown, mentally flipping through all the possible scenarios. What... They can't possibly expect to _overpower_ me.

"Ready to crash, boys?" the lead Mage asks from outside the cell, and I tilt my head.

"Perfect timing," one of the Mages in the cell with me replies, and then he and the rest of the nearby Mages lurch forward, resting their hands on my shoulders, head, back, and at first I don't even respond because what the crap-

The lighting in the cell crackles black.

"Seto!" Brice screams, struggling against the Mages, but he can't get free, and even if he could, what would he do? I yell out in pain and sink to my knees, digging my fingernails into my scalp in a sorry attempt at self-distraction while the Mages in the cell continue to keep skin contact with me. "Stop, d-don't hurt him, please, stop hurting him! What are you _doing!?_ Please, please, let him go!" Brice cries desperately, and I growl at myself and tug hard on my hair.

"You...will... _regret_ this," I gasp out, but my head is swimming, and I can't help but feel that I deserve every ounce of pain that I'm feeling, can't help but suddenly crave the warmth of a Dark magic high, and I can't breathe I can't breathe I can't think I can't think but I _have to-_

"Oh, will we?" one of the Dark Mages asks.

"W-Without a _doubt,"_ I growl, gathering my thoughts.

" _Volito!"_ Brice squeaks, and, before I cast my spell,I take a moment to appreciate how well this boy already knows me.

" _Ego fessussum tui bullcrap. In infernis arderet!"_

The lighting returns to its normal bright setting, and the pain I was feeling fades away as the Dark Mages around me crumple to the floor. Almost immediately, Brice drops down to the ground and throws the cell door open, and then he runs to my side and sits down next to me and wraps his arms around me tightly.

"Mm," I mutter, trying to hide how much everything still hurts, how weak I still feel. I swallow hard and hug my knees to my chest.

Brice shakes his head. "Oh, Seto, I'm so sorry," he says, burying his face in my hair. "Mmf so soffy 'nd I mmf you so much Sehoh."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just-" He pulls back a little, looks at me, hugs me again. "I'm glad you're okay."

"J-Just a little... whatever that was. That's all. Nothing major," I reply, forcing a laugh.

"I swear, it's like you're invincible," Brice giggles, and I laugh, for real.

"I wish," I snort, trying and failing to stand up.

"Crap, Seto, hold on-" Brice jumps to his feet and then tries to pull me to mine, and I consider kissing his cheek in thanks but ultimately decide against it.

"Ah, thank you," I respond instead, letting him support me half-way as we walk to the door. "Unfortunately, I'm not actually sure how, exactly, they were harming me, so I'm at a bit of a loss as for how to fix the damage."

"That's fine!You can rest for as long as you want!" Brice assures me, and I shake my head as he helps me step over one of the Dark Mage's bodies. "Uh, quick question, heh: Are they dead?"

"Merely unconscious. I'd already begun the spell in my head before you dodged, and I hadn't wanted to harm you too terribly."

"Aw, that's so sweet, you didn't want me dead! That might be a first for our relationship."

"Yes, quite possibly," I reply, rolling my eyes. "Now, be prepared, for there may very well be a lot more Mages in this base."

"Like that second group, the one with all the girls."

"Ah, yes! If we're lucky, we'll have the privilege of fighting Miss May; she's very skilled in _both_ alignments of magic."

"Aren't you good at both magics, too?"

My expression hardens. "No. I used to be. I'm not anymore."

"But couldn't you just practice a lot again and then-"

"I can't cast Light, Brice."

"But-"

"Can't. I _can't."_

"Okay," Brice whispers, and I force myself not to feel bad as I shake his hand off my shoulder and begin walking steadily on my own.

"Come, to fight Mages."

"Okay," he repeats, still very quietly.

"Dearie me, are the two lovers having a row?"

I raise an eyebrow as I turn toward the pink-haired lady to my left. "Are you faking a British accent?"

"Are _you?"_

I roll my eyes."Hello, May."

"Helloooooo, my dear!"

I sigh.

"This is Miss May?" Brice asks curiously, speaking normally again. Thank Notch.

"Actually, I'm married," she says, twirling her two pink braids around her fingers.

"So then _Mrs. Ma-"_

I throw out a hand to shield Brice before May can send her pre-programmed blast toward him, and Brice squeaks and hides behind me. "She isn't married," I sigh, glaring at May. "She just enchanted herself so that whenever someone says 'Mrs.' in front of her name, an explosion catches them off guard and, if all goes well, kills them."

"O-Oh," Brice laughs very, very nervously.

"You protected him with your _hand!"_ May exclaims, seeming impressed and almost proud. "And hardly a gesture. So, then, you've started learning Dark magic?"

"I've _finished mastering_ it, actually," I reply, crossing my arms.

"My, oh, my! When was the last time I saw you? Eight years ago, say? Dearie me,you've been fast with your learning! You must have been practicing daily."

"Obviously."

She shakes her head like a concerned mother. "That can't be healthy, Seto. Too much casting, if you ask me!"

"No one asked you." I let out a tired sigh. "So, are we going to fight, or what?"

"Mm, well, if you insist!" May chirps, and I sigh one more time."Coincidentally, while _you've_ been mastering Dark magic, _I've_ been mastering Light! I'm better than I've ever been; I've actually given up Dark magic entirely!"

My eyes go wide."Really?"

"Well, yes! Of course, I've always had the option." Of course, she has. "But a good friend of mine convinced me that my crashes were far too terrible to continue enduring – until we get the scapegoats, that is!"

I frown, and,before she can babble on, I put up a hand as a signal for her tostop. "Scapegoats?"

Miss May laughs good-naturedly. "Yes! Some Dark magic researchers back in the Burg recently discovered that there actually _is_ a large physical effect caused by Dark magic on the caster. Every time you crash, there's time taken off the end of your life –sometimes a year or more if it's a really bad crash! Unless, of course- you have a scapegoat!"

My eyes widen a little, though I try to hide it. Before now, everyone had always assumed that the only negative effects of Dark magic on its caster were mental and emotional. The early deaths of Dark Mages were always put down to them getting caught up in situations they couldn't handle. But an actual physical consequence – that could be bad, and I can see why Miss May would be worried about that. "But what, or who, would qualify as a scapegoat?" I ask curiously.

She shrugs, sending her pink braids bouncing up and down a little. "Any non-magic-casting human, really – or even a magic-casting one, so long as they're extremely powerful. As long as a human is in contact with you during your crash, you can funnel all of the bad crash effects onto them!" That must have been what the Dark Mages were doing to me back in that cell – they were forcing their crashes onto me and forcing _me_ to deal with the consequences.

Oh, no. That's why the higher-up Dark Mages were plotting to kidnap half the City –they needed scapegoats for themselves. And of course they wouldn't be telling the weaker or less important mages, because that would discourage them from fighting for the higher-ups – they'd be more cautious about their Dark magic usage.

So, while the Dark Mage equivalent of peasants and civilians battle with all they've got against the Light Mages and their forces, the Dark Mage nobility, leaders, etc. work to quickly and quietly acquire the scapegoats they need to survive, and, while they're at it, avoid every negative effect that comes with the casting and crashing of Dark magic.

"Oh, dearie me,what a mess it was!" Miss May giggles as I tune back into the conversation. Seems

I've missed a bit of it. "Well. With how much _you_ cast, you _must_ have a scapegoat of your own. How often do you crash, Seto?"

All thoughts of scapegoats flee my mind as I swallow hard and then try to hide it by looking down. "Ah, I, never."

She laughs as though I've told a funny joke. "Good one, dearie. But, really,I'm curious!"

"Never. I never crash."

"Never... You never..." She laughs nervously. "You're being serious?"

"Utterly."

"Good ghast, Seto, that's-" May forces another laugh. "I used to crash at least once every other week, and I'd cast more often than anyone I've ever known."

"I don't crash. I won't."

"You'll crash someday, and-" May shakes her head. "And, dearie me, it will be _tragic."_

"I won't crash."

Brice glances from one of us to the other, back and forth. "Seto, you never crash..?"

"It's nothing," I say.

"Seto-"

"I said, 'it's _nothing,'"_ I growl.

"Dearie me," May tuts, and I find myself grinding my teeth in anger. "I'd place money on you being the most Addicted person in the entire world. When _was_ the last time you crashed?"

"Five years ago. Left the city after that. Didn't let it happen again."

She whistles in awe. "Five years! Amazing, really. Imagine the crash,though! Most crashes last about ten minutes, but yours – ah, when you have yours, _properly,_ it's bound to last a day or two. Possibly even take off _years_ of your life!"

"I. Will. Not. Crash."

"Seto-"

"Shut _up_ , Brice!" I shout, whirling around to face him. "I _won't crash!"_

"Dearie m-"

"Stop _saying that!"_ I yell at May. "Don't you have _any_ other words in your vocabulary!?"

"You've quite a temper problem, haven't you, dearie?"

I clench and unclench my hands around the fabric of my robe. "Okay. Just- Look. Brice and I are here to decimate this base. We're going to do that, and then we're going to leave. You can try to stop us,or you can step aside, _I don't care,_ but we are not going to continue this pointless conversation."

"You get more British when you're angry!" May laughs with her natural American accent, and I let out air slowly through my teeth, which results in an accidentally threatening hiss. Her eyes widen, and she smirks. "Maybe you should try taking an anger management class."

"Maybe I should tear off your head."

She narrows her eyes at me. "Well. I can see you're very much needing to take out your anger _one_ way or another, and since I don't really want to see you turn to domestic abuse, I suppose we can go ahead and begin fighting."

Refusing to let myself register her statement, I cast a small warmup spell in my right hand. I'd sooner hurt _myself_ than hurt _Brice._ Then again, maybe that isn't good proof, because sometimes the whole'hurting myself' thing seems a little too likely to become true in the near future.

"Shut your mouth," I say slowly, "before I get impatient and decide to shut it for you."

Brice hesitantly raises a hand. "Uh, a-are you gonna kiss her?"

"Oh my Lord." I drop my spell and smack the palm of my hand against my forehead, and then I cry out when a spell hits me straight on. I fire back a counter spell without even thinking, and May shrieks.

"Hey! Light magic, dearie, I'm not in the mood to get Addicted again!"

I huff. "That just makes me wanna hit you with Dark magic even more."

"Come on, let's be civil, dear! Light magic is fair game, everything else isn't."

"It takes more than a few Dark spells to get someone Addicted again."

She tsks. "Not always! Dark spells that change a person, damage them or heal them,they can have many side effects! And, anyways, magic is like smoking! Second hand Dark magic is always worse than casting the magic yourself! Very good chance I could get Addicted again if you shoot those nasty spells at me."

"I'm trying to kill you, May."

"Yes, but I'd like to die a hero!"

"You're ridiculous."

"He can't cast Light magic," Brice explains for me, which I am actually very grateful for.

"Yes. Didn't you hear our 'row' from earlier?"

"Well, only the half of it!" May shouts, tugging on her braids in distress. "You can't cast Light anymore!?"

"Have fun getting re-Addicted," I growl, splaying out a hand toward her, and she disappears.

"Where'd she go?"

"National Dark Magic Rehab Institution."

He giggles. "You're so awesome."

I can't help but smile a little. "Ah, well. I caught her off guard. Plus, Light magic is far more complicated than Dark, in _some_ ways. It was an unfair battle."

Brice shakes his head. "Whatever you say."

"Well," says a sorceress with a black robe. "That may have been an unfair battle, but this will not be." Brice shrinks back at the sight of the forty-or-so Dark Mages – the 'second group,' presumably –preparing to fight us.

"Goodbye," I say simply, glaring at them all, and they disappear in a couple of heartbeats.

"Where'd they-"

"The institution. I wasn't in the mood to drag things out."

"This is why I love you," Brice laughs, and I freeze for a small moment before getting my bearings and smiling at him. Platonic. It's platonic. We're friends. We're, uh, friends are supposed to love each other, right?

Ha. I guess I wouldn't know.

Ah, well, my mood dropped astoundingly quickly.

"Brice, stick close to me," I order, and, once he's holding my hand and tilting his head questioningly at me, I chant, _"Delere,"_ and the entire base explodes around us.


	10. Nine: Good, At Least Around Brice

**_DEAR FF READERS: MAKE SURE TO READ CHAPTERS SEVEN AND EIGHT! TRIPLE UPDATE TODAY!_**

 _THIS CHAPTER HAS A LOT - AND I MEAN A LOT OF SETO BACKSTORY XD_

 _ALSO SOME FEELINGS NEAR THE EN]d WHOOPS_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 9: "Good, At Least Around Brice"**

"You know, I've noticed that you are, like, _totally_ overpowered," Brice comments as we run in a random direction.

"Hmm?"

"Like, no one even has a _chance_ at beating you! You're _seriously_ basically invincible. None of these 'battles' have _any_ effect on you, it's crazy!"

"That's a good thing, right?"

"Well, yeah, but- like, there's hardly any suspense!"

I raise an eyebrow. "Do you _want_ there to be suspense?"

"I mean- I guess not, but it'd be _cool_ , you know- And so far the only suspense has been me wondering whether or not you'll keep protecting me like you have been."

"Should I tell you I won't stop protecting you, or will that remove _all_ the suspense?"

"Seto, oh my _Jeb!_ The suspense is gone!"

I roll my eyes, but I can't help but smile. I think I'm starting to like this boy just a little too much. "There's still _emotional_ suspense, if you look hard enough," I say, shrugging slightly.

He tilts his head. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Well. Perhaps not for you."

He furrows his eyebrows, seeming even _more_ confused. "Seriously, what are you talking about?"

And then, without thinking, the words spill out. "Little things. For example, I may cast an easy spell and then doubt myself for a moment – is it going to work? Were my intentions matched morally to the type of magic I was using? Of course, it's always Dark."

Brice's eyebrows shoot up. "You mean, you don't always have dark _intentions?"_

"I don't know. I suppose not. I force the Dark anyways."

"Why?"

"Why?" I frown a little. "Because that's my only option."

"Why?"

I roll my eyes. "You're like a broken record."

He laughs a little. Then, a few moments later, he says hesitantly, "Can I ask you something?"

"No one's stopping you."

"Okay. Uh... Who- Um, okay, the day we met, you said that no one had told you you were bad. But... I- I don't believe that."

"That wasn't a question," I say stiffly, bristling a little.

"Who was it?"

For a very long while, the only sound to be heard is the rustling of the leaves on the nearby trees.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, that was super nosy-"

"I had a very close-knit group of friends. Ah, well- I thought I did, anyways," I interrupt quietly.

His eyes widen, and he tugs on my sleeve to pull me to a stop. "What happened?" he asks, forcing me to look at him.

I focus on the collar of his shirt. "There was a friendly enough man who often frequented the alleys in town. Once, in an attempt to speak to him and hopefully help him, I approached one of the alleys he was known to be quite comfortable with.

"He was there, of course. I had a nice conversation with that man, he was very polite. But then he told me he could help me become an even better sorcerer than I already was. And, at the time, I was elated, obviously. It was my dream to be the best sorcerer out there, though, at that point in time, my goal was to be a _Light_ sorcerer. Regardless, the man kindly gave me a demonstration of _his_ power."

"And it was Dark?" Brice asks, almost in a whisper.

"It was Dark. I was amazed. I'd seen Dark magic before, of course, but I'd never realized how _free_ it made you. You could cast any sort of spell without even knowing to need the actual steps to cast it. I remember watching him in awe and wondering, in the back of my mind, if I could make it even _more_ powerful by mixing Dark magic with Light spells. As I later discovered, I most certainly could.

"The man taught me a simple Dark spell. Having never cast anything other than the purest Light spells before, even that tiny burst of Dark magic gave me a tremendous high. The crash, small and short as it was at the time after so little casting, didn't bother me enough to make me stop. Every week I would venture into one of the man's allies, and he would give me more Dark magic casting tips. I began to mix Dark magic with my usual Light magic while I was helping around in the City, and, unfortunately, my 'friends' eventually noticed the change in the color of my magic. They began noticing the times when I would retreat to my house and not talk to anyone for a short while – just to get over the crash.

"They told me I needed help. I told them they were wrong."

"So they wanted to help you?" Brice asks, furrowing his eyebrows, and I make the mistake of looking into his eyes. "There's no way they just let you... _leave_ for five years."

I smile sadly. "They wanted to help me. _At first._ Then it got to be a burden, I suppose – no one wanted to talk with me or spend time with me anymore, afraid that I would somehow spread my Addiction. Others were afraid that I would turn on the City – of course, it was because of this very fear that I eventually _did_ turn on the City. Though, to be fair, I never _planned_ to leave or turn. But after two years of constant casting, my friends decided it was simply too much.

"I had a terrible crash on the edge of the City. I'd been casting Light magic all day in order to help build a hospital, and when I crashed from the lack of Dark magic casting, I fell out of the air where I'd been flying and then landed rather roughly in a pile of building materials.

"Many of my friends had been helping out with the building as well; despite the fact that few of them had any sort of control over magic, they _all_ wanted to help out the City as much as they could, just like I did. And a few of them ran to me immediately, wanting to help me, perhaps, and make sure I was okay. Meanwhile, others decided they were fed up with dealing with my crashes.

"I wasn't worth it."

I bite my lip, hard, and force my eyes away from Brice's again.

"Seto... You don't have to keep going," he says gently, sounding pained.

I laugh weakly. "You asked. You've gotten tangled up with me, so you might as well know.

"The moment my friends approached me, I'd been back up and casting as much Dark magic as possible in order to get back the high and rid myself of the crash. Some of my friends shook their heads in disapproval, and I remember looking at them in confusion, failing to see exactly how bad I'd gotten.

"They said they'd been thinking for a long time about my... ah, situation. They said they couldn't keep supporting me if I didn't look for help. Now, that- that shocked me into action, a little. Immediately, I offered to swear off Dark magic forever, because my friends – they meant the world to me. But they... didn't believe I could do it. I remember some of their words almost exactly...

"'I just don't think there's enough good left in you for you to be anything other than bad.'

"'You're a Dark sorcerer, Seto. It's been a _year_ since you went a single week without casting Dark magic.'

"'Maybe you're just... destined to be bad, you know? Nothing personal, just... Maybe bad is what you are.'"

I laugh darkly. "How much time did I spend each night after that, repeating those words to myself? It went slowly, at first. After my friends oh-so- _subtly_ suggested I find a home outside of the City, after the rest of the entire City _backed them up,_ there was still a small period of time where I could cast Light magic. But the longer time went on without so much as a visit from any of my old 'friends,' I started to... really believe them. I _was_ bad. Couldn't be anything else.

"My Light magic skills began to drift away. I started casting Dark magic all the time, continuing to use Light magic spells and patterns but with intentions and feelings so dark that there was not even an ounce of Light energy in them.

"And that," I say, taking a deep breath and looking up at Brice again, "is why I must be bad."

"I wish I were good at magic," Brice says flatly.

"Why?"

"So I could _ruin_ all of your stupid _friends,"_ he snarls with a tone I haven't heard from him before. My eyebrows shoot up. "What kind of friends _were_ they!? They were _crap_ friends, that's what they were! You are _totally_ worth it, and they were _super_ stupid to think anything else!"

"Calm down. It was justifiable. I was a liability."

"No!" he huffs, stomping his foot, looking like an angry kitten, and I try not to snort. On the bright side, he's helping me cheer up again. "It was _not_ justifiable! They're just super jerks!"

"Hey, Brice?"

He relaxes slightly, focusing his eyes on mine.

"Thanks."

Brice's mouth drops open a tiny bit, and then he stammers out, "W-What?"

"Thank you. For being... a better friend than they ever were."

"My pleasure," he chokes out, mocking my saying a little, and then he lurches forward and hugs me tightly and says, "Thank you for being good, at least around me."

I squeeze my eyes shut and hug him back.

* * *

"See, this is what I mean!" Brice laughs as I blow up the entire Mage base. _"Totally_ overpowered!"

"I do try," I reply, smiling widely and then sending the remaining Dark Mages flying in every direction. "Well! That's one more base down. Where shall we go next?"

"Maybe the one right next door?" Brice giggles, pointing at the twin base to our right, and I let out a snort and nod my head.

"Maybe. Come on, they must have heard all that commotion," I say, grabbing Brice's hand and pulling him toward the other Mage base. I didn't notice, but it shares a wall with _this_ Mage base – perhaps that's why I saw it as one with the other. However, I did not blow up the twin Mage base, thinking that it was empty anyways and all the Mages had been close to me in an attempt to win the battle.

"Yeah, they heard it," Brice chuckles nervously upon seeing the strikingly large group of Dark Mages in front of it. "Uh... Exactly _how_ op are you?"

"Incredibly. However..."

"However?"

I wink at him. "We might as well get some suspense out of this one." I grin and turn to the Mages. "I'll go easy on you – no area spells larger than three meters!"

"What does that mean?" Brice asks, tilting his head and staring at me in awe.

"It means I may not hit more than approximately three of them at once, and I must have dead accuracy with each shot."

"This _will_ be suspenseful," Brice says with wide eyes. "Are you sure-?"

"Absolutely. All right, we're done chatting! Begin!" I yell at the Mages, and they all exchanged confused glances before turning back and firing a barrage of spells at me and Brice. "Step behind me!" I call, and Brice squeaks and ducks behind me, nervously grabbing at the fabric of my cloak. "Move with me, all right?"

"Sure!" he shrieks as a ball of flame flies over my head.

"Lovely. _Mortis ubique!"_ I hold out both hands in front of me and let the magic fly out from my palms, rapidly hitting Mage after Mage with perfect accuracy. "Strafing right!" I sing-song to Brice, and he laughs and moves along carefully behind me. "Jump!" We both barely dodge an instant death leg-shot. "Backing up, now. Left a tad." I fire at several more Mages, and one of them growls and cast a very powerful tracking spell which would certainly be capable of taking out both me and Brice in one go. Quickly, I cast a mental spell that switches my opponent's spell's target, and my opponent and five of his friends go down in one go instead of me and Brice. "Ah, don't you just love Dark magic?" I laugh. "Sometimes I believe the Addiction may be worth it! _Almost."_

"As cool as this is, I think you're probably wrong," Brice says.

"Yes, probably," I reply, still laughing. Then my eyes go wide. "Duck, Brice!" He follows my order almost immediately, which is the only reason he's still alive. "Roll left!" He follows again. "Jump!" I yell, but then I hear Brice's yelp and I know he must have been too slow getting up. I glare at the Mage who cast the spell. "Wrong move."

"Dearie me," Brice laughs weakly from somewhere behind me, and I snort as I lift up my hands.

"All right, calling off the suspense! That was fun, I'll see you all never again," I call politely before wiping out the entire group of Mages.

"Seto, um-"

My head whips around. And there he is, lying awkwardly face-up on the ground, propping himself up just barely on his elbow, biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.

Not that he needs any more blood spilling out. There's already quite enough flowing from the wide gash on the boy's side. Frickin' hate magical blades.

"Well, you've gotten yourself in quite the pickle, haven't you?" I ask calmly, trying to keep up the joking mood.

"Little bit," he laughs, but then he groans in pain. "Seto, please..."

"Yes, yes, I'll fix you. It won't be hard," I laugh, crouching down next to him.

His eyes fly wide open. "No, I- I don't want you casting Dark magic on me, Seto, don't!"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Then how do you expect me to heal you?"

"L-Light magic. You used to be a big Light magic caster, r-remember?"

"Perhaps before, but not now. Now I am only capable of Dark magic. Nothing else."

Brice groans again, and I try not to visibly wince. "Seto-" He moans and puts his hand over part of the injury. Notch, he's going to die if he keeps this up.

"Just let me cast a spell. What's so terrible about it?"

"I-It's- addicting-" he replies, gasping now.

"Notch dang it, Brice," I mutter, approaching him slowly, cautiously. I can't cast Light magic. I _can't,_ I'm bad, "good" isn't a part of my vocabulary, I've _told_ him this, why doesn't he get it? I thought he got it. "I-"

"P-Please."

I roll my eyes, trying to avoid eye contact. "Fine."

Brice sighs in relief. "T-Thank you, Seto."

I ignore his words, as he won't be thanking me soon. A small, cool breeze blows through Brice's hair, and I struggle to keep a straight face as I rest my hand on his chest. I'm saving his life! He'll just have to deal with it.

 _"Magnum sanitas,"_ I chant, and my dark magic wisps around Brice's injury, heals it before he can protest. I back away the moment the spell has finished, and I choose not to look at Brice's face as he stands up.

"Seto-" He stomps his foot, and I flinch back slightly. "What don't you understand about the words, 'Use Light magic!?'"

I continue looking down at my feet. "I can't, Brice."

"Seto, it's- you're a _famous_ sorcerer! Can't you just get over your 'dark and powerful and totally evil' stance for one moment? Okay, _yeah,_ your old friends were fricking jerks. But can't you _get over that?_ " I make the mistake of glancing up at his face, and I swallow hard as he glares at me. "Can't you _ever_ be _anything_ but bad!?"

My breath hitches.

"Oh, Jeb, Seto. Crap, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean- Seto, oh, Jeb." He takes a few tentative steps forward, and I shake my head and turn around to begin walking toward the next Dark Mage base. "Seto-"

"No."

"W-What?"

"No. I can't ever be anything but bad."

"Seto..."

"Move, Brice. We need to keep moving."

"Seto, please, I- Let me apologize! I'm super sorry, I wasn't thinking, Seto, please, wait!"

I spin around to face him. "I said, 'We need to keep moving,'" I growl, and he flinches back but I tell myself I don't care. He's just like the rest of them. And he's _right._

All of my forced anger drains out of me, leaving only the root sadness, and I force myself to turn around and keep walking.


	11. Ten: Smol Bean

_SO I WENT TO THIS CAMP AND THEY HAD NO WIFI ;-;_

 _SOOOORRRYRRYRYYY_

 _BUT, REGARDLES_

 _EN-JUH-HOY THIS CHAPTER, M BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS!_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 10: "Smol Bean"**

"Come on, Seto, _please!"_

"We're here. My, I do hope we've almost reached the last of them. This is getting quite repetitive."

"Seto."

"Tch, this base is _obnoxiously_ shabby on the outside. I doubt it's one of the more powerful bases."

"Seto."

"Come, now, Brice. We ought to be prepared when we enter this base. Though it may not _appear_ too terribly threatening, looks are often rather deceiving."

"Yeah. For example, I acted all super nice and then I acted like a total jerk when you least expected it."

I shut my mouth.

"But, Seto, I- I wasn't acting when I was being nice to you." He reaches forward and grabs the sleeve of my cloak, which I am beginning to get very tired of him doing. "I like you a lot, and you're my best friend, Seto, even though we haven't really known each other all that long, and I- I shouldn't have said what I said, and I'm so, so sorry, you have to believe me."

"Shame that I don't," I mutter, continuing my walk forward.

"Seto!"

"That's my name. For the love of Notch, stop wearing it out."

He moans in frustration and then runs to catch up to me again. "Seto."

"Shut _up!"_ I roar, whirling around and holding up both of my hands. "Next word that comes out of your mouth will be met with a round of instant death spells."

Brice is silent.

"That's what I fricking thought-" I begin.

"You're bluffing."

I take in a deep, shuddering breath and clench my hands into fists. "I am not."

"You are too. You care too much."

"I- What?"

"You care too much," Brice repeats confidently, crossing his arms.

"I don't care at _all._ "

"Bluffing."

"Am _not!"_

"Oh?" He uncrosses his arms and holds them out, an open, easy target. "Kill me, then. Cast those instant death spells."

"I will!"

"Okay. Do it."

"I-I-" I shake my head violently. "I-I _will,_ Brice!"

"Okay. _Do it."_

"I-I- _M-Mor-_ Augh, I hate you!" I shout, casting a violent spell at the ground. The grass around me withers and dies, and I find myself shaking slightly. "I hate you so much! Why did you have to- Why can't I kill you? Why can't I just kill you and go back to my normal life!? Why do you- why do you mean so much to me?" I ask brokenly, looking up at him and grabbing my left arm with my right hand. He can't see, but I'm burning myself with that hand. Making sure I feel all the pain I deserve. It's a little bit comforting.

"Seto," Brice whispers sadly, stepping cautiously toward me.

"That's my name," I repeat, but this time my voice cracks terribly and I end up letting loose a few tears.

"You're hurting yourself," he says quietly, staring at my hand on my arm.

"I am not."

"You're bluffing again."

"That wasn't a bluff," I laugh self-deprecatingly. "That was just a plain old lie."

"I'm so sorry," Brice whispers, and then he pulls me close to him and runs his fingers through my hair and doesn't let me go, and I'm so thankful because I can't be alone right now, I can't. I'm so _tired_ of being alone. I don't _want_ to be alone anymore.

"Do you know why you couldn't kill me?" Brice asks softly, speaking directly into my ear, and I shudder.

"W-Why?"

"Because you are good."

I force another laugh. "One instance of mercy does not overwrite thousands of instances of murder."

"That's not the point, Seto. The point is that _you are not all bad._ There is some good inside of you."

I pull back a little and force myself to look him in the eye. "You..." I bite down on my bottom lip. "Please, please don't lie to me, Brice."

"I would never."

I smile just a little bit. "You know, Brice, during serious moments, you drop all of your typical teenager colloquialisms."

"I, uh, I don't know what that means."

"Thank you, Brice," I giggle, hugging him as tightly as I can manage.

"Any time," he mumbles into my hair.

"Holy tacos! Did I just watch some non-sexual gay bonding!? I _love_ watching non-sexual gay bonding!"

Brice and I jump away from each other and spin around to look at the young lady standing in front of us. "And you are...?" I ask slowly, looking her up and down.

"Supposed to stop you. But you're just so cute!"

"Who _are_ you?" Brice asks.

"I'm a scout from the Dark Mage fort you're approaching! My name is Lizza."

"Yeah, that's great. Fair warning: We haven't been defeated thus far, and we won't be breaking the streak now," I say in a low, almost growling tone.

"Dude. With gay love like that, you _can't_ lose."

"I am mildly uncomfortable," I comment.

 _"I'm_ not!" Brice sings, and I sigh and shake my head.

"Okay, so, _you're_ gay, how about moody brunette boy over here?" Lizza the obnoxious little brat asks.

"I hate everyone."

"Everyone except Brice?"

I glance over at him. "Yes. Everyone except him, I suppose."

"So, then, you're Brice-sexual! Or, Brice-romantic, at least."

I glow again.

"Woah, you're doing the thing! Are you hurt?" Brice asks, tilting his head in confusion as he looks at my glowing form.

"Ah- obviously."

"Where?"

"Ah, well- I'm-"

"Where does it hurt?"

"His pride," Lizza whispers.

"Okay, either fight us or leave," I huff, crossing my arms. "You interrupted a rather important conversation and now I would appreciate it if you would vacate the area."

"Big words from the smol bean!"

"W-What!?"

"Okay, let's fight! Wait, no, change of plans! You and _Brice_ should fight! With your lips! On his lips!"

"Please stop," I groan, dragging my hand down my face.

"No way! Okay, for real, let's fight!"

"Must you use so many exclamation points?"

"Absolutely! Now, hit me with your best shot!"

I send a barrage of instant death spells at her.

"Haha! Missed me! This is why I focus all my training on defense!" Lizza laughs, and my eyes go wide in sync with Brice's.

"Did she just-"

"-Survive one of my attacks," I finish, amazed. "It's happened before, of course, but it's quite difficult to dodge an entire _barrage_ of spells like that. I'm... impressed."

"Woohoo! The gay senpais are impressed!" Lizza squeals.

"Yikes, she's _impressively_ annoying," I mumble. _"Mortem, mortem, mortem!"_

The girl throws up a shield that manages to block all of my high-level spells – some of the spells are even reflected back at me and Brice. "Is she- _better_ than you?" Brice asks in awe. "I didn't think that was possible!"

Should I be offended, or was that a compliment? I shrug and lower my hands, trying to think of a new tactic since, clearly, the head-on approach is not working. "Your go, Lizza."

She shrieks excitedly. "Yay!" Quickly and confidently, she signs the spell for sharp points – though, assuming she's using Dark magic, that could mean a lot of different things.

"Seto!" Brice squeaks, jumping into the air to avoid a couple of spikes that burst out of the ground. The same spikes pop up below me, but I'm not fast enough to jump, so I take the damage. _"Sana,"_ I chant as I dispel her spikes and glare up at her. Obviously, sitting here and doing nothing while we let her have her 'turn' is not an option. But straight-out offense won't work with how talented she is at defense spells, and we won't get _anywhere_ if _I_ go on the defensive.

"Brice," I call, getting an idea. "My apologies for this."

"Wha-"

I pull him towards me, and, without any warning whatsoever, I engage the boy in a sudden 'lip-battle.'

Lizza screams bloody murder, and I splay out a hand to cast a spell in her direction, easily catching her off guard.

"At least... I died... at the hands of two very gay smol beans!" Lizza gasps dramatically, and I cast another spell to put her out of her 'misery.'

"Well. That was an interesting experience," I snort, pulling away from Brice, wiping my mouth with the sleeve of my cloak, and walking toward the Mage base we aren't supposed to be walking toward. "But I suppose any time is a good time to learn new battle tactics."

"Haha! B-Battle tactics!" Brice squeaks in the most high-pitched voice I've ever heard from him (which is saying a _lot_ ). "Love battle tactics! L-Love them! Learning! Yay!"

"Are you okay?" I ask curiously, raising an eyebrow as I turn around to check on him. His face and ears are bright red, and he's tapping his foot nervously against the ground. "Nervous about the Mage base? I doubt we'll have to learn any new tactics for this one. Though they _did_ send an interesting scout."

"Definitely," Brice laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, and I shrug and turn toward the base again.

"Coming?"

"Y-Yeah, of course!" he replies, running up next to me. "Uh- woah. This base is _huge._ How did we not notice it? It's, like, super obvious."

"We were a tad preoccupied, I believe. Of course, we _noticed_ it – we just didn't do the best job of registering its size, seeing as we were quickly distracted."

"Oh, right," he chuckles as we approach the arch. There aren't any guards, but I can tell by the size of the place that there are _definitely_ a lot of Mages here. Perhaps we _will_ have to learn some new tactics.

"Take my hand," I advise Brice, and once we're connected, I lead us under the arch and through the middle of the base. There are buildings absolutely _everywhere_ , and I'll admit that that's pretty concerning. Let's just hope they haven't all focused their powers on defense like Lizza had.

"It's really quiet," Brice comments, shaking a little. "I-I don't like it."

"Nor do I," I hum contemplatively. Where _is_ everyone?

And then the quiet fades.


	12. Eleven: High

_SETO BEB ITS OKEH_

 _YOU ARE MORE THAN THE CHOICES THAT YOU'VE MADE_

 _YOU ARE MORE THAN THE SUM OF YOUR PAST MISTAKES_

 _YOU ARE MORE THAN THE PROBLEMS YOU CREATE_

 _YOU'VE BEEN REMADE_

 _I SAW TENTH AVENUE NORTH IN CONCERT AT THAT CAMP AND THEY SANG THAT SONG AND THATS ONE OF HTE FIRST CHRISTIAN SONGS I EVERY REALLY TRULY LIKED A LOT AND JUST NOSTALGIA AND ALSDKFJ ALKSBGS_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 11: "High"**

"U-Uh," Brice chuckles nervously, glancing over at me as the Dark Mages slowly exit nearby buildings and begin to inch closer to us.

"Fear not," I joke, holding up a hand and waving it as though in greeting. "Hello! We come in peace. I am the Dark Sorcerer, and this is my apprentice. We have come to aid you in this great war." Brice looks over at me with wide eyes, and I will him to shut up so I can at least make this battle a tad bit amusing.

The Mages exchange awed looks and seem to relax a bit, and I smile sweetly.

"Yikes, what's with the cloak?" I ask, peering at one of the Mages. "Oh, dear, those colors clash terribly. I'm afraid I've changed my mind, I'm going to lend a hand to the Light Mages instead. _Crepitus!"_

The area around me and Brice explodes, though Brice and I stand in a protective bubble, and the Dark Mages cry out in surprise as they scatter. I grin as I hit a slightly isolated group of them with an electricity spell, and another with a spell that drags them down into a newly-generated abyss. Several Mages fall prey to some last-minute demonic summons of mine, and I turn my attention to the Mages that have managed to survive thus far, the smartest in the batch, I suppose.

 _"Duratis!"_ I shout at three Mages coming at us from our left. They freeze mid-run and clatter harmlessly to the ground like statues, and I laugh joyously as I turn to assess the situation on the right. About ten, twenty men are approaching on this side, a much larger problem, but I take them out effortlessly by waving my hands about and casting a spell that promptly sets their robes and cloaks on fire. I laugh again as the Dark magic courses through my body; it's a feeling I often take for granted, with how much I cast, but when I cast so many powerful spells in such a short time period, the effect is _very_ noticeable. It _demands_ my attention. I _must_ appreciate it.

I must get _more_ of it.

A mixed-magic orb the size of a small chapel is launched toward me and Brice from all the way across the huge base, and I giggle crazily. "It's almost like they think they can _beat_ me or something!" I laugh, grinning as I prepare to use all three magics at once.

"Seto-" Brice starts, but I ignore him.

In my mind, I picture a stream of dark purple magic twice the diameter of the orb firing at us currently, a stream of magic that will guide all of those hit by it to a slow and painful death, using as much Dark magic as possible. With my hands, I make the shape of an orb, but a _big_ one, and I sign the words "pain" and "death" in sign language. And, finally, as Brice yells at me to stop whatever sort of abomination of a spell I'm quickly bringing to life in front of us, I chant loudly, _"A tardus et penale mortem!"_

My magic is fully formed now, and it materializes in the shape of a wispy purple orb that I can touch with my hands, and so, with a no doubt smug-looking smile, I take the large, nearly weightless orb into my hands and hurl it at the approaching enemy magic.

And all in ten seconds.

The Dark magic lights up every part of my body, and I want to move, I can't possibly stand still. I want to jump, and run, and beat someone's high score at Dance Dance Revolution, and I want to cast _more_ Dark magic, _more,_ _more-_

"Seto, stop!" Brice screams, shaking my shoulders, and my eyes go wide.

"What!?" I snap, glaring at him. "Did you not see that? That was spectacular. The base is decimated." I glance around, laughing at the wreckage surrounding us. "A few moments ago, we were on a sturdy castle floor; now we're balancing on flimsy debris!"

"Exactly!" Brice says, seeming distressed, and I snort.

"And not even a scratch on us!" I exclaim, glancing at us both. "What a show! Ah, see, now, I'm still not good for much, but I'm good for making a right mess of things I had absolutely no business making a right mess of!"

"Seto, can you just- you're _shaking_ , what the crap!?"

"Aha, it's the magic, friend!" I inform him, twirling around happily and letting the bottom of my cloak spin out around me. "Dark magic, Dark magic! _Everywhere!_ Don't do this often anymore, 's a shame but I always tell myself it'll do me no good, and yet here I am! And it's doing me plenty of good."

"No, Seto, you're- Oh, Jeb, you're _so_ high right now-"

"Haha, I've been higher!" I tell him, laughing at the notion that this could possibly be my highscore Addiction-wise. "Ah, I love it!"

"I don't!" Brice argues, jogging to catch up with me as I begin to dance towards the remains of the exit. He glances sideways at me and then gasps, tugging on my shoulder to pull me to a stop. "Seto, your eyes are super bloodshot!"

"Yes, well, that _is_ a side effect!" I remind him cheerfully, trying to continue moving again, but he grabs my hand and turns me around to face him, and I pout. "Oh, come, now, Brice!"

"What are the _other_ side effects?" he asks worriedly. "They're different for everybody, but what are yours?"

"Ah, don't fret, they aren't too terrible!" I assure him, laughing again. "Mm, let's see, now, clouded judgment, I believe? Sudden and extreme mood changes. Terribly optimistic behavior and terribly _pessimistic_ thoughts, specifically directed towards oneself, yes." I tap my chin over-dramatically. "Well, the crash is the worst part, really – the more you cast, the faster you crash. Except most Addicts never allow themselves to truly crash, since it's so terrible. I, myself, _never_ crash, _certainly_ not all the way! Horrible depressive fits, suicidal ideologies, panic attacks, and, ah, you can feel the Dark magic calling to you, begging you, threatening you, wanting you to cast it again. Not a fun ride, altogether! Wouldn't prefer it, myself."

"Then why do you let yourself do this!?" Brice asks, biting his lip in concern.

I shrug. "I'm bad!"

"That's stupid! That's a stupid excuse!" Brice huffs, his face growing a tad red. Oh, dear, I've angered him.

"Well, what else can I do? I'm meant to do terrible things and act in terrible ways and cast terrible Dark spells that are spectacularly badly received."

"Oh, are you? And who told you that? Your 'friends?'" Bad memories, oh, dear. Now _he's_ angered _me._

 _"It doesn't matter!"_ I shout, backing up a bit from him and shaking his hand off my shoulder.

"You need to stop casting Dark magic!" he insists, though his expression wavers a bit.

" _You_ need to mind your own business!"

"It isn't healthy, Seto!"

"Don't you think I _know_ that!? Don't you think I've been _told_ that, time and time again!?"

"Then why don't you ever _listen!?"_

"I'm not made for that! I'm not capable of doing things right!"

"Ha. You know what I think? I think your old 'friends' told you 'time and time again' that you should stop, and I think you continued to cast Dark magic anyways, because you _like_ being bad."

For a short moment, time seems to freeze.

And then sudden realization shatters the illusion I had built around Brice, the idea that maybe there was someone out there _who genuinely believed I **could** be, **wanted** to be more than a villain._

His eyes widen, and he claps his hands over his mouth but then immediately removes them. "Seto-"

"I have _never_ liked being bad!" I shout, taking a step toward him and converting my hurt to anger as much as I can. "I have tried _everything_ not to be bad! I have spent _countless_ nights lying awake and cursing my own existence, because I _can't be good!_ Even if I _have_ got a tiny bit of good in me, it doesn't matter! I can _only_ be bad! No one _wants_ you when you're nothing but bad, Brice! They push you away because you're a lost cause, anyways! They tell you over and over that you'll never get better and so you tell your _self_ over and over that no one would mind if you _dropped dead,_ because at least that would be one less _terrible_ person in this _terrible_ world!"

I step back and squeeze my eyes shut tight, breathing heavily and trying to keep the tears from escaping as my forced anger dissolves and leaves me with nothing but the aching, unending sadness. The eternal feeling of unwantedness. The everlasting desire to _end it all._

And, suddenly, I've had an early crash.

Before I can manage to start crying in front of Brice, I spin around and dart across the rubble, out the nearly-collapsed arch that marks the entrance to the base, and into the nearby forest. I've no clue where I'm going, running blindly, pushing aside branches and leaves and dodging around trees and small animals, but I know that Brice won't be there when I arrive, and that's good enough for me.

"Seto!" he calls, but he's far, far behind me. I keep running until I'm sure there's no way he could ever catch up - he can't possibly be determined enough to run this far, not for a villain like me - and then I collapse on the grass in a clearing, breathing heavily as I try to keep my thoughts under control. Oh, Notch, I'm terrible. I'm so terrible. I couldn't keep myself under control, I couldn't control the darkness, I rarely can when I use it so much, why- why- what do I-

I let out a sob and grab my knees, trying to ground myself to the world around me. Come on, Seto, get it together. Gotta, gotta stay. Stay here. Why? Why, why, Brice! Not Brice, Brice doesn't- isn't- Win the war, I have to win the war! To protect Jenny and Danielle, yes. Yes, yes, what? I barely know them, why-

Something rustles in the bushes a few meters away, and I yelp and throw out a hand toward the area, yelling, _"Mortem in sempiternum!"_

"Se-"

"Oh, Notch, no," I mutter frantically, jumping up and running to the bushes I cast the spell at. Time slows as Brice's body comes into view, and my eyes go wide. Oh, Notch, what do I do? I have approximately ten seconds until the spell is completely finished, irreversible.

And yet: Dark magic is absolute! It cannot be stopped.

However, by its polar opposite, it _can_ be _countered._

I take in a deep breath, internally threatening myself with the consequences should I fail this spell. Brice's life is on the line, and, unfortunately, I care about him, just a little, even if he doesn't care about me.

 _"Vivifica! Sana! Discute tenebras! Et non moriatur!"_

I gasp in pain as light purple magic that I didn't think I had begins to seep out from my hands and twirl around Brice's still form. I cry out as the magic seems to yank itself out of me as it continues, much more painfully and forcefully than Dark magic ever is. "Please be okay," I whisper to Brice as spots dance across my vision, but I can't stay awake to wait for an answer.

* * *

"Stop, don't hurt him!"

My eyes flutter open, though my vision is blurry.

"Please, he isn't going to hurt you!"

I'm lying on the ground in an uncomfortable position, and there's a figure standing in front of me, holding their arms out as though to protect me.

"No! Don't come any closer, or I'll- I-I'll-"

My vision clears, a little, and my eyes widen as I scramble backwards, away from Brice and the Light Mages.

"Seto!" Brice shouts, dropping his arms and spinning around to face me. "You're awake, thank Jeb," he breathes.

"W-Why are they here," I ask, trying to hide my nervousness as I force myself to my feet. I sway slightly when I stand, and Brice's eyes widen. He tries to step forward and steady me, but I give him a dangerous glare, and he stops, biting his lip.

"I- I told them you were here, I-"

I hold up a hand to stop him, and the Light Mages behind him tense defensively. "You- I'm wanted, Brice. The most powerful Dark mage in the land. They want to kill me."

"I know, but-"

"You betrayed me."

"N-No-"

"Do I really mean so little to you?" I ask quietly, looking up at him. So, yeah, he knows how terrible I am. But I didn't think he'd be like... like my old friends. Abandoning me the moment they realized.

Brice shakes his head frantically and reaches a hand out toward me, and I flinch away. "No, I- I was worried! You wouldn't wake up, and I wasn't strong enough to cast a proper healing spell and I'm just so sorry, Seto, I didn't mean to- I thought they could help you!"

"Well," I laugh darkly. "Why do I try? This always happens, in one way or another."

"Seto, no-"

I take in a shuddering breath and then smile self-deprecatingly as I walk unsteadily toward the Light Mages and hold out my hands. "Take me away, boys," I say, rolling my eyes.

"Seto-" Brice looks devastated. What a great actor. He should be on TV, not the battlefield. "No, fight back! Don't let them take you, Seto, fight back!"

I laugh again. "Sorry, pal, but I can't. Used up my energy saving you. Haven't recovered yet."

He frowns as the Light Mages put magic-resistant handcuffs on me, which is pointless since I have both verbal and mental magic, as well. "Don't call me 'pal.' You only call your enemies 'pal.'"

"And if not an enemy," I ask him as the Light Mages shove me forward, and I cough out the next words: "Then what would you call yourself?"

Brice is silent for a while as the Light Mages force me away. "You need a teleport home?" one of them asks Brice.

"Nah, he's a scout, he'll be fine on his own," one of the others laughs, and I can't help but worry about how Brice will get home.

Since I might have lied, and since my magic problem may currently be related more to will than to energy, I mentally teleport Brice to the City as soon as the Light Mages and I are out of view.


	13. Twelve: Tainted

_ONLY THREE CHAPTERS LEFT AFTER THIS!? WE'LL BE DONE BY TUESDYA?!JASDKF?!_

 _ALSO YOU GUYS SHOULD GO CHECK OUT_ CONS OF SAVING THE WORLD, _ITS A MUNCHINGUNIVERSE, SORRY TO THOSE OF YOU WHO WANTED OTHER THINGS, BUT I'VE WRITTEN LIKE FIFTEEN THOUSAND WORDS OF TAHT STORY OOPS XD_

 _ANYWAYSYASDF_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 12: "Tainted"**

The Light Mages teleport us a small distance outside the City to a large white tower that I recognize from when I used to think I could be good. I used to hang out there all the time, helping out when they needed it, though I did prefer to hang out in the City instead since I always saw the Light Mages as rather pretentious.

"In you go," one of the Light Mages barks, shoving me roughly through the front door, and I wonder if they realize I've got the blueprint of this place committed to memory. "Down the stairs," the Mages order as we pass by two guards, and I roll my eyes and stroll toward said stairs, which does a lovely job of surprising and annoying the three Light Mages holding me captive.

"Well, hurry up, now. I do believe I'd need a key in order to enter the prison block on my own?" I ask, raising an eyebrow cockily.

One of the Mages growls at me and shoves me, _hard_ , against the iron door of the prison block, and I groan at the sudden pain in the back of my head. "Yikes," I mumble. "Light Mages? More like _Fight_ Mages."

Before I can force a laugh, a different Light Mage slams me against the door again, this time pinning me there and holding his staff up to my neck. I gasp for breath as he presses it harder against me, and then I swallow hard and chuckle uncomfortably.

"Seems a certain someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today."

The mage scowls at me and pushes his staff up, which lifts me off the ground so that I'm pulling at the staff with my hands and trying my hardest to get my dangling feet to touch the ground again. "We could kill you, here and now," he whispers in my ear, and his hot breath gives me uncomfortable chills.

"I'd like to see you try," I gasp out.

Infuriated, the mage pushes his staff down with what must be all of his strength, and, consequently, I go down with it. Immediately after I crumple to the ground, the Light Mage stamps his boot-clad foot down onto my head. I, no doubt, would currently be suffering brain damage had I not had the foresight to cast a slight protection spell on myself. Regardless, I still feel the pain, and I grit my teeth as the mage lifts his foot again to kick me, hitting my ribcage and making me groan in pain.

"Hey, don't kill him," one of the Light Mages nervously warns his friend. "Michael wouldn't be happy with us if we killed him."

"You'd be wise to listen to your friend," I moan, slowly pulling myself to my feet.

"Down, prisoner," the violent Light Mage says, kicking at me again, but this time I cast a quick spell to slow time so I can grab his foot before it reaches me.

"Unfortunately, you do not seem to be very wise," I deadpan, glaring up at him. "This is your second chance, pal. Use it more wisely than you used the first."

The second Light Mage nudges the violent one, who sighs and glares back at me before unlocking the prison block door and glancing at it, silently instructing me to enter.

I lead my _self_ down several hallways, rolling my eyes at all the occupied cells. Five bucks that most of these prisoners haven't committed more than a petty crime. Come on, I think _I_ , the most powerful mage in the land, deserve a cell a bit stronger than the ones used for these small criminals.

"Ah, here's an empty one!" I exclaim, peeking through the door-window-bars of one of the cells. "I assume it's mine?"

"Actually, yours is the one _next_ to it," the violent Light Mage says snootily.

"Oh? Odd, seeing as the cells on either side of this one are full, and I don't believe you'd encourage any camaraderie between an inmate and the fabled Dark Sorcerer."

The Light Mage blushes and opens the door of the empty cell, and I smirk as I step inside. "I see. Have a nice day, then!"

He grumbles as he slams the door shut and locks it. "We'll decide what to do with you after the war."

"Sounds lovely! Ah, while you're at it, could you fetch me some coffee? Yes, put it on my tab."

The Light Mages glare at me before walking away, and I roll my eyes as I turn around to examine the cell. It is, of course, equipped with an enchantment to prevent any type of magic from damaging or reaching past the walls, ceiling, and floor. Granted, I could easily get around this if I wanted to.

Unfortunately, I don't want to.

So I sit down on the cot in the corner of the room and I try to keep my thoughts from wandering to Brice but they wander anyways, and so I decide to get high.

It's been three days, and I am high as crap.

The halls are dark, but my cell is not. It's constantly lit up by my dark purple magic, which gives off a weak light that seems much stronger when used on repeat.

I'm high, higher maybe than I've ever been, and I keep casting the spells, keep casting them, keep casting them because I can't stop, don't want to stop because I can't handle the epic crash that will follow.

"S-Seto?"

I raise an eyebrow. Would any of these criminals know my name? I mean, those who remember my days as a light sorcerer certainly must recall my name, but who would dare call me that today?

"Oh. Duh. Yours is the one that's practically glowing, super obvious." A face peeks through the barred window of my cell. "Where are the keys? I'll go get them. Seto?"

"Ayyyy, you're that kid, the traitor one! Pfft, I'm not helping you – _you're_ not helping _me!_ I'm just fiiiine on my own!"

Brice frowns. "Are you high?"

"Higher than the Light Mages' collective ego," I giggle.

"What the crap, Seto!?" he whisper-shouts.

I shrug, grinning still. "Got nothing else to do."

"Um, you could escape, maybe!" Brice huffs, glaring at me through the bars.

"Yes, I could," I reply seriously. "I could obliterate this entire place." I grin again. "But I don't wanna. So I won't. I mean, look around! It's greeeat here, no weird wars going on in my personal space, no obnoxious, traitorous kids tagging along behind me like friggin' puppies, it's great!"

Brice bites his lip. "Come on, Seto, we- The Light Mages need you, they're losing the war-"

I snort. "Too bad, so sad, cry me a river. I'm not your secret weapon."

"I- Seto, I know, and you have to understand that you're worth so much more to me than that, but the Dark Mages are a battle away from winning, and, please, we need your help!" Brice begs, grabbing one of the bars.

"Mmmmmm, not my puh-roblem!"

He bites his lip. "Seto, please."

"Noooooope. _Gloria!"_ A Dark butterfly appears in front of me and flies right into Brice's face, and I laugh as he wrinkles his nose.

"Seto!" He bites his lip harder. What a terrible habit. "Okay, so- Look, I know you don't like to talk about them, but I know you had people you loved before you got Addicted. Your old friends." I stiffen. "Well, I'm willing to bet they all still live in the City, and if the Dark Mages win this war, the City is done for. Are you going to let them die?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "If they had the option, they wouldn't think twice," I say, and Brice smiles hopefully. "They'd double lock the door and hope I'd be the first to die." His smiles falls abruptly. "They don't care about me."

Brice is quiet for a moment. Then: "What about me?"

"What?"

"I care about you. I would never let you die."

I roll my eyes. "You turned me in to the Light Mages."

"I was worried about you, Seto." He sighs. "And I'm so sorry, and I'm even sorrier about what I said at that Mage base, but, please... Don't _I_ mean anything to _you?"_

"You're just some annoying kid who barged into my life and decided to make it a Nether of a lot more complicated."

His sudden intake of breath immediately makes me want to take back my words.

"Oh," he says quietly.

A few awkward, silent moments pass.

"I guess I should go help, then," Brice says, sounding small. Oh, Jeb. "I'm definitely not helping anyone in here."

He gives me a weak smile through the bars, and then he turns and walks away.

"W-Wait."

Brice hesitantly peeks back through the window of my cell, and I sigh and cast a powerful Dark spell that breaks through the enchant and sends the cell door creaking open. "I guess it's pretty annoying, hearing the Light Mages constantly complain about their position in the war," I say quietly, refusing to look at Brice's face. "So... I'll help you. But that's the only reason! Just to make things easier on myself."

Brice smiles softly, knowingly, as he nods his head. "Of course. What other reason would there be?" he asks shyly, and I curse myself for suddenly being a terrible actor.

"Just- Shut up, Brice. I'm the Dark Sorcerer."

"Thanks, I had somehow forgotten."

"Stop sounding smart, loser. That's _my_ job, to use pretentious and British-sounding words."

"You aren't British?"

"No."

"Oh my Jeb."

"Did you seriously think I was?"

"Yes! Your accent is so cute."

I raise an eyebrow and make an effort to speak in an American accent. "Oh? I got into the British thing when I was really young, and I just kept it up as I grew older."

Brice laughs. "That's amazing, you're like a whole new person!"

"Thank you?" I ask, raising my eyebrows again and dropping the forced American accent. Ha, whoever heard of an American without an American accent?

Brice squeals, and I shush him since we're still making our way out of the prison area. He clamps his mouth shut but then giggles. "Oh my Jeb, so, when you say, like, _'Summone,_ or whatever, _biscuits_ ,' do you get biscuits or cookies?"

"I don't usually make a habit of randomly summoning cookies."

"Try it!"

I roll my eyes. _"Summone biscuits_ ," I chant quietly, and cookies fall from the sky.

"Cookies!"

"I was thinking about cookies."

His eyes go wide. "And it still worked, even though you said 'Biscuits?'"

"Dark magic is different than Light."

Brice spits out the cookie he was munching on. "These are _Dark_ cookies!?"

"It doesn't change the recipe."

"I've been tainted," Brice gags as I hold open the door to the prison area for him.

I furrow my eyebrows as my brain goes in an odd direction. "Funny thought. If I were to, ah, _kiss_ you – like I did before that last Mage base – would that be tainting you, as well?"

Brice chokes a bit, and I cast a quick spell. He gasps for air for a few moments and then sighs.

"Are you all right?" I ask worriedly, tilting my head.

"I choked on a cookie," he gasps out, and I laugh quietly and then glance around wildly.

I soon calm down, furrowing my eyebrows again. "Why isn't anyone here?"

"Use the word 'present.'"

I roll my eyes. "Why isn't anyone _present?"_ Brice squeals again.

"Can you say 'ain't,' oh my Jeb."

"What?"

"Like, uh, like, 'This ain't right.'"

"I ain't about to say a made-up word."

"But it's in the-"

"Dictionary, I know," I sigh. "I sacrificed knowledge in an attempt to please you. Are you pleased?"

He squeals a third time. "Yes. Uh, I think the Light Mages are all out fighting, so- Okay, okay, since no one's even here, could you maybe call me 'love?' Just once." He bites his lip in anticipation.

I let out an exasperated sigh. "My wish is apparently your command, love."

"Oh, oh my Jeb. I'm literally dead right now."

"No, you aren't. Lead me to the battle."

"R-Right, the battle. Follow me!" Brice shouts, darting toward a side exit. I race after him, weaving between columns and tables, until he finally locates the door and bursts out into the night. My eyes widen when I see the battle, only about one hundred meters away from the front of the Light Mages' tower. "Okay, we're going to go around the battle and try to take out the source."

"How?"

"Uh..." He shrugs. "I believe in you!"

"I'm sure you do. Regardless, we don't have much time, so... mind if I buy us some?"

"Uh..."

"Lovely." I raise my hands and cast a huge death spell on the first ten or so lines of Dark Mages, and then I shout "Wow, good job, ah, John!" in my most American voice. Then I duck behind Brice so no one can see me.

"That was stupid," Brice whispers as he smiles uncomfortably at a few suspicious Mages.

"Correction: It was _reckless._ "

"Are you still high?"

"Yes, very."

He sighs and waves at the Mages before grabbing my hand and racing away from them all. "Okay, um- so the Dark Mage headquarters is in that direction, near the Burg. Uh, I don't know if we can run there in time-"

I raise a hand.

"No!" Brice shouts a little too loudly, grabbing my hand and pulling it down. "No more Dark magic."

I snort. "I'm in control. I'm high, but I'm in control."

"You won't be for long if you keep casting spells. C-Could you do a Light spell?" he asks nervously, flinching back a bit.

I sigh. "I- I'm sorry, Brice-"

Brice shakes his head. "Don't be. Seto, I... I trust you, like, a lot. So... be super careful, but..."

Grinning, I bite my lip slightly and raise my hands. "Off we go!"

"We're here!" I sing-song once I've teleported us to the Dark Mage HQ. "That was fast!"

"Yeah, it was," Brice admits, shaking his head slightly. "Good job, Seto." He pauses and frowns at me. "Are you sure the glowy thing isn't just, like, a blush?"

"It's not a _blush!"_ I squeak, glowing more brightly.

"Oh my Jeb, it's totally a blush!" Brice laughs, bending over and clutching his stomach. "That's awesome!"

"S-Shut up, Brice," I mumble, glaring at him.

"Sorry, sorry, whatever," he giggles. "Where are we?"

I glance around the room we're in. The light coming through the tiny window on one of the walls is not exactly enough to brighten the entire room, but I can at least see that there are boxes everywhere. "An attic, maybe? Somewhere in the Dark HQ."

"Woah, you totally nailed the location!"

"Obviously," I scoff. "What do you take me for?"

"A smol bean," he replies cheekily, referencing our fight with Lizza, and I roll my eyes.

"Well, good for you, but I'm _the Dark Sorcerer."_

"Yeah, remind me when I actually forget," Brice snorts, rolling his eyes in a very me-like way. "So, uh... how are we gonna do this?"

"Perhaps we can blow the whole place up."

"Cool!"

I nod as I look out the small window. "Yikes. This place is huge, though, I'll need a tremendously powerful and widespread spell..."

Brice's eyes go wide. "N-No. You can't cast that much Dark magic."

"Yes, I can."

"No way, you can't. Especially not as high as you already are."

I glance out the window. "I can see the Light Mages coming – they made it past the Dark Mages' front lines, but they still aren't doing well enough to defeat all the troops in this base," I say, peeking down at the HQ below. It's huge, about half the size of the Burg itself, and I wouldn't be surprised if there were ten thousand or so Dark Mages in this base alone. "They won't stand a chance without me, as you said. I have to do this. I _can_ do this."

"No, don't! Don't, Seto. You're not- I won't let you."

I huff in exasperation and spin to face him. "Are you kidding me? Listen, I may not be good at much, but I'm good at Dark magic."

"I'm not doubting you- okay, fine, I- I'm doubting you."

My eyes go wide, because, okay, fine, I _didn't expect him to say it._ I expected him to deny it like I'd just said he was the antichrist or something.

"I never asked for your belief or approval anyways, okay? I've been using Dark magic for _seven years,_ I think I know what I'm fricking doing!" I shout angrily.

"I'm just worried about you, Seto! Dark magic _always_ hurts its casters!"

"And how would you know? You've never cast anything but the most pure-hearted spells!"

"I've been where you are now, okay? I was never as bad as you, but- but I've been there. _I got out of it._ You can't let this continue to pull you down!"

"Brice, you just- can you just _leave?_ I didn't even _want_ to be involved in this stupid war, but it's because of you that I ended up in a prison cell and that I am now about to go on a stupidly risky mission to save the friggin' world!"

"Well, if I hadn't gotten you involved, the world would be doomed! We both know you're _far_ too selfish to help out on your own!"

"If the world needed me, I would've been there!"

"No, you wouldn't have! You don't care about anyone but yourself!"

"When I care about anyone but myself, I get hurt! Thrown away! No one ever sticks around!"

 _"I_ stick around!"

"You _betrayed_ me!"

"Seto, that was to help you-"

"No! You turned me in, you- I was actually starting to- I was starting to care about you – I was so far past _starting_ to care about you – and I haven't let myself care about anyone in so long, and- and then you-" I shake my head sharply, squeezing my eyes shut tight and swallowing hard as a few tears leave tracks down my cheeks.

"Seto, I-"

"No, stop! I don't need you here! I don't want you here!"

"Seto, please, I didn't mean to-"

"I'm going in. I'm using my Dark magic. And you can't stop me."

Brice stomps his foot, my eyes fly open, and my breath hitches when I see his expression, one of determination and slight anger. "Go cast a Light spell, Seto. Save this world with a Light spell."

"I have _told_ you, Brice, I _can't-"_

"I told you to cast the spell," Brice whispers. "I believe you can and will cast the spell."

He steps closer, closer, too close. Warm breath brushes my face, and I find I'm having trouble breathing.

Predictably, with the most serious expression known to man, he repeats my own words back to me. "Why don't _you?"_

My anger fades as he leans forward, slowly, slowly, his eyes glancing down to my lips, and I can't seem to stop my own eyes from flickering shut as he moves closer still.

Just before our lips can touch, he says softly, _"I_ believe in you, Seto."

And, for a moment, I believe in me, too.


	14. Thirteen: Light

_The song above is "Half-Truism" by The Offspring, and I think it goes quite well with this chapter. Fair warning: It says 'hell.' If that offends you in any way, I urge you not to watch the video. Alternatively, you can listen to "Explode" by Patrick Stump._

 _AJSDFKL SJDFAKLDJ WE'RE GETTING THERE GUYS_

 _WE ARE. ALMOST TO. THE ENDASDKLF JSDLFKASJDFKLASDJFDSKFLAEJEBEBAPW_

 _AND SO MUCH HAPPENS IN THIS CHAPTER JUSTA LKSDJF KAWEB_

 _OKAY_

 _WHELP_

 _TRY TO EN-JUH-HOY, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS :3_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 13: "Light"**

"Okay," I say breathlessly as he pulls away. "I-I'll try my best."

"Thank you," Brice whispers, leaning his forehead against my mine, and I glow so brightly that Brice has to jump back and rub at his eyes. "Agh."

"Yikes, sorry, I-" I try hard to shut down my blushing. "My apologies, friend, ah, I-"

"It's cute," Brice laughs. "Blinding, but totally cute."

I bite my lip as hard as I can to prevent myself from glowing even more brightly. "Ah, I suppose I should go cast the spell, then."

"Guess so," Brice agrees, nodding slightly. "But be really careful, please? And, _please,_ remember that I believe in you, and I _know_ you can do this."

I smile shyly. "Thanks, Brice."

"Yeah," he says, smiling back at me. "No problem."

A few long, distracted moments later, I snap out of my daydreams and laugh awkwardly, and Brice blushes. "Okay, ah, bye, then. I'll meet you outside the HQ afterwards?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah! Okay, good plan."

"All right! We're set, then," I say, and then he and I walk down the stairs, out of the attic, into the main room of this tower. Luckily, there's only one person here, and I easily take him out. "Be wary getting back outside the HQ; I've no idea how far in we are, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"I will! Don't worry, I've got this. You just take care of the magic thing."

"Mm. I'll be seeing you in a few minutes, then?"

Brice nods confidently, and then he waves to me and darts out the door of the tower we're in. For a while, my eyes follow his figure through the window, but eventually I force myself to take a deep breath and head outside.

I need to get to a part of the HQ that gives me a clear view of the whole place. Quickly, without any regard for silence or secrecy, I shoot up into the air. I'll have this place obliterated soon, anyways. Well- that's assuming I can actually cast any Light spell worth an ounce of mana. Brushing that thought aside, I weave between two buildings and then dart up to the roof of a tower even taller than the one Brice and I teleported into. This will do nicely.

 _"Crepitu-"_ I freeze and cut the spell short when I realize how easy it is to cast. It's Dark magic, I'm still casting Dark magic.

Okay, come on, Seto. You can do this. Just- Just _one_ spell. One tiny spell. One huge, tiny spell.

It'll be easier on me than on any other Dark mage, because I've got all three types of magic. So, think this through, Seto. I'll need to disable the entire base. But I _don't_ want to kill anyone – I think that might taint my magic enough to make it Dark again. So I'll have to create an explosion with an area radius of at _least_ one hundred meters, but I'll also have to cast an after-spell to protect anyone inside just enough to keep them alive. Disabled, but not dead.

Okay, I know the verbal spell for that – it shouldn't be too hard. Now, on to the visual spell. I can just sign the equivalent of "explosion," and let my visual magic handle the part of the spell that decides its strength. I can use mental magic, drawing the correct patterns in my mind, to decide the radius of the blast. But I'll only have a _split second_ afterwards to cast the protection spell.

All right. Deep breath, Seto. You can do this.

 _For Brice._

The moment I begin the spell, a sharp pain attacks my hands, jaw, and head, and I groan in pain, accidentally interrupting the verbal part of the spell. Still, I push through the visual part, determined to finish this. If I don't finish it now, I'll _never_ finish it – after this, I'll be too worn out to cast _anything._

My purple magic surrounds me like a fog, and I can't see, can barely see my hands in front of my face. All I can see is purple, everywhere. Purple and pain, all I can see and all I can feel. I can't do this.

Oh, Notch, I can't do this. I can't, I can't, I'm bad, I've never been good, why did I let myself think- why did I let Brice convince me-

No, I- I _have_ to do this! For Brice! He told me to cast the spell, and I will cast the spell, dang it! I can _do_ this.

It's only once I've collapsed on top of the tower roof, once I'm holding my head in pain and forcing my mental spell to continue because it is my last hope, once I'm crying out in pain and biting my lip and drawing blood because _I can't handle this,_ that I suddenly realize.

 _There's no way I can draw enough energy to cast the protection spell after this._

And then, a realization that is a thousand times worse: _Brice may not be out of the city yet._

"Cast the spell, Brice," I whimper, though I know he can't hear me. "Cast it a _lot."_

The tower crumbles, and I fall.

* * *

My eyes flutter open, and I groan in pain as I shakily lift myself up only to fall back onto the jagged rubble below. All around me, the only thing to be seen is rubble, the remains of buildings, a body part peeking out from under a slab of concrete every now and then.

It can't have been more than a few minutes since I cast the spell.

"Never has so much Dark magic been used by one person at one time! A crime of this caliber, and during the Dark War? This man is worthy of death," says someone not too far away.

But- wait, no, I- I used Light magic! I did, I swear I did, I know I did, I- I tried so hard just to- just to cast a _stupid_ Light spell, and-

And, apparently? I failed. I couldn't do it.

They were right, all those years back. When they told me that I was too far gone. When they told me I could never be anything but bad ever again, not since I'd fallen to the Addiction.

They were right.

I can only be bad.

Oh, Notch.

"Is that... Sir, that's the Dark Sorcerer!"

"Wha- we've been trying to capture him for almost five years!"

"We _did_ capture him!" shouts another Mage. "He must have escaped!"

"All that, _plus_ today's crimes- there is no suitable punishment for something so big!"

I look down at the rubble that's digging into my knees. I thought I had it. I thought I'd finally done it, finally- finally been _good._

Notch, why do I bother? Why did I get my hopes up? I've gone _five years_ accepting the truth that I can't be anything but bad, but then Brice came along and told me I was good, even if I _thought_ I was bad.

And I liked it.

And I let myself believe him.

"Torture. A year's worth, at the very least."

Torture. Notch, and don't I deserve it? I used to act so good - used to use nothing but Light Magic. Used to spend my time building hospitals, schools. Used to be a healer. Used to put on light shows at night, used to make people's lives better - used to be good.

How did I stray to the point where I have no chance of returning home?

"Yes, that may do. A year's worth of torture, and then execution."

I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my hands into fists, but I don't try to attack them. Even if I wanted to, I'm far too weak.

"The war is won. The Dark Sorcerer is captured. Things may just start to look up for our fair City!"

"Indeed! Someone, seize the sorcerer."

I suck in a shuddering breath and then force my eyes open to watch as three Light Mages approach me cautiously. "Go ahead," I whisper, looking down again. "I don't mind."

One of them laughs darkly. "We all thought you were so powerful - undefeatable! And now here you are, simply giving in to your tortuous fate."

"Pathetic," another says quietly, glaring down at me. Suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, he lurches forward and brings his fist down on my head, and I cry out as I throw out my hands to catch myself before I fall. I groan in pain while the Light Mage laughs, and then I squeeze my eyes shut again and hate myself for crying.

I don't deserve to cry.

"Poor fool can't even defend himself," one of them chuckles, roughly pulling me to my feet. Ignoring the intense pain in my head, I force myself to stay standing. Might as well make this easy for them.

"Enough playing around, boys," the head Mage warns them. "Is he disabled?"

"No!" shouts a familiar voice, and I bite my lip, hard. Here he is to laugh at me, to tell me I was right all along. I'm _bad-_ it's in my DNA.

"No, please!" he shouts again, closer now. "Stop, don't hurt him!"

I furrow my eyebrows but refuse to open my eyes.

"Brice, this is not your concern."

"Yes, it is!" He's _much_ closer now, right in front of me, so close I could probably reach out and touch him. "Oh my Jeb, you hit him," Brice breathes, gently running his finger down the side of my face, and his careful touch almost makes me cry again. "Seto."

"Brice. Let the Mages do their jobs," the head Mage commands.

"You're kidding, right?" Brice scoffs. The two rough hands that were holding me up let go, and Brice supports me as he slowly lowers me to the ground. "Seto, you can open your eyes now. It's okay."

I shake my head frantically, cursing myself when a single tear drips from one of my closed eyes.

"Oh, Seto," Brice whispers sadly, wiping my cheek with the pad of his thumb.

"Brice, step away from the sorcerer. He is dangerous."

Brice sounds furious when he responds. "He _saved_ you! He saved _us!_ And this is how you repay him?"

"Brice," the Mage says warningly.

"No, shut up, did you even see that!? Did you _see_ what he did for you all!? Look how weak he is!" I crack open an eye, just a tad, and Brice, who is facing the Light Mages and waving his hands about angrily, continues. "He's- He could've _died,_ you know! That was a _huge_ spell, and he hasn't cast a Light spell in _five years,_ you _morons!_ He risked _everything_ for you!"

"Not for you," I whisper, glancing around at all of the horrified Light Mages. "For _Brice,_ who is a better mage than any of you will _ever_ be."

"Ha! Brice? The puny little scout? We're _far_ more competent than _him-"_ one of the Light Mages starts.

"Shut up!" I roar, leaning towards them a bit, though I'm still on my knees. "Brice has a _heart!_ Brice cares about someone other than him _self!_ Brice is everything a sorcerer _should_ be, but _you_ fools have stunted his actual magical ability by putting him down and telling him he'll never be enough! He's enough! He's _enough!"_ I shout. I sink back a little, breathing heavily. After a long silence, I say quietly in a tone of warning, "And I don't _ever_ want to hear _any_ of you tell him otherwise ever again."

The lead Light Mage refuses to look either me or Brice in the eyes, as do the rest of the sorcerers, most of whom are looking down guiltily. "Brice, I apologize for the childish actions of your elders and peers. I... hadn't realized. However, the Dark Sorcerer cast a very powerful Dark spell that very well could have killed everyone within a hundred meter radius. Countless Light Mage lives could have been lost. There must be a punishment for that."

"But- But-"

"I'm sorry, Brice."

"H-How can you just-"

"Come on, Brice."

"It was Light Magic," he says quietly, as a last resort.

"It was Dark," I whisper apologetically.

Brice stands stock still for a moment. But then he whirls around and hugs me tightly and refuses to let go no matter what I or the Light Mages say. "It was Light," he cries softly into my shoulder. "You are light."

I almost cry with him.

"Bricey-Boy, I'm thinking you might be guilty by association," one of the Light Mages smirks, and my eyes go wide.

The lead Light Mage quickly shakes his head. "Silence, John."

"No, he's right. Your brother is breaking the law by helping this wanted criminal scum," another Light Mage says, his eyes lighting up devilishly.

"Brice, y-you have to deny it," I plead, trying to push him away.

"Never," he whispers.

"It's the law," yet another Light Mage taunts.

"Silence!" the head Light Mage - Brice's older brother? - shouts. "I... The Dark Sorcerer _did_ help us win the war. We would never have won without him."

Brice seems to perk up a bit. I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"Still, this does not erase his past sins." Ah, _now_ I can believe my ears.

"Torture is not needed. The death penalty is not needed," the man continues, and I raise my eyebrows. "Exile, however... is the very _least_ punishment we can give him."

Brice starts to protest again, but I tap him on the shoulder to signal for him to be quiet.

"Brice. Brother of mine. If you do not deny being this sorcerer's accomplice, you will be forced to carry out the same exile he goes through." The head Light Mage sighs sadly. "It is law, brother."

"Deny it," I whisper frantically in Brice's ear. "Deny it, _now-"_

"He is my Seto," Brice says firmly, turning a bit so that he can face his brother. "And I love him. I'm _in_ love with him." My eyes go wide, and I swallow hard. "I'm with him, no matter what."

"Brice, no," I plead, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt.

Brice ignores me, looking bravely up at his brother.

"Then... I..." His brother looks away for a moment before finally looking back at us. "I hereby exile Brice Solace and Seto Sorcerer from the City. You may never return. I... I am sorry."

Brice sits there, frozen still next to me, as Light Mages snicker and then go about returning to their jobs. They pull living Dark Mages out of the wreckage as prisoners, and they clean up parts of the decimated base.

After a long, long while, they simply walk away.

"You didn't go with them."

Brice smiles sadly, still looking down, and nods slightly.

"Why?"

"I fell in love," he says softly, looking up at me.

"Why?"

"Can we just- I don't wanna talk about this." He stands up slowly, sniffling and avoiding eye contact with me. "I have to go... figure out how to live in exile, I guess."

"Brice, I-"

"No. Please don't- I don't want to hear another of your 'you mean nothing to me' rants. I don't want to hear you tell me how you never needed me in your life. That's not something _I_ need in _my_ life right now. I'm sorry I got you exiled, okay? I'm sorry."

"Run after them," I say, voice suddenly hoarse. "Please, you can convince them to let you return."

The broken Mage base is silent.

"I'm sorry," I whisper, looking up at him.

"Me, too."

"What now?" I ask, trying to hide my distress.

He shrugs, still refusing to look at me. "I'll figure things out, like I said. I guess I'll... I'll try to start my own life out here. Or in the Burg, maybe."

"Brice," I whisper.

"What other choice do I have?" he asks sharply, and it finally hits home that this is _my fault._

 _I'm_ the reason he's been separated from his brother, and probably the rest of his family as well. _I'm_ the reason he no longer has a house, a City, to go home to. _I'm_ the reason he has to start all over.

 _I_ am.

 _Bad._

"Be careful," I tell him, sounding small.

"I will," he says, and then he stands up and walks away.

And there, on my knees, surrounded by all the damage I've caused, and completely and utterly alone...

I cry.


	15. Fourteen: Good

_;-;_

 _Here comes the crash._

 _RIP Seto._

 _;-;_

 _No, it's not over yet._

 _But we're close._

 _En-juh-hoy, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers._

 **Addict**

 **Ch 14: "Good"**

Eventually, I get up and walk home.

I stumble a lot, still weak from the spell (and apparently a _Dark_ magic spell, too- I really _am_ weak), and my head injury makes it hard to keep my balance, but I refuse to heal myself. I deserve this. After everything I've done, I deserve this.

The house feels cold when I enter it, which is usually something I appreciate, but today it feels uncomfortable and condemning. I consider summoning a cat or something to keep me company, but I honestly just can't gather the energy for that right now. Can't gather the energy for _anything_ right now.

I plop down in an odd position on the couch, and then I promptly fall asleep.

* * *

I wake up in the middle of the night. Stars are shining brightly. Every once in a while, a wolf's howl rings through the air.

I sigh as I stand up, and then I groan in pain as my head injury reminds me of its presence. Grand. But I'm still not in the mood to heal, so I wave my hand and I walk downstairs, clinging to the railing all the way.

For the rest of the night and for some of the morning, as well, I mindlessly prepare potion after potion, and I enchant more armor than I could ever possibly need. Time passes more slowly, and yet also more quickly, than it ever has before, and I find myself wondering what I'm still doing here.

What was my purpose _before_ I met Brice and got involved in the whole war thing? I suppose it was simply to have fun, and to spite my old friends. But I didn't have fun, not really; and I never spited them, I only proved them right.

I imagine they've heard, by now, of my official exile. It didn't affect me much, since I never went inside the City boundaries anyways, but I feel like, from now on, I will be kinder to passersby; just for politeness' sake. Though, admittedly, I would have much preferred a year's worth of torture followed by certain death.

Regardless, my old friends have surely heard by now, and now they have all the proof they have ever needed that I am nothing but bad.

I fall asleep with my head resting on the table next to the potion brewer.

* * *

The next time I awaken, it's sometime in the afternoon, and I've nothing to tell me how much time has really passed, other than my very, very over-spun potions. I consider taking them out and starting a new batch, but in the end I just fall asleep again, lulled by the monotone whirring of their endless spin.

* * *

It is, I believe, day number three since Brice's leave when I finally have my proper, long-awaited breakdown.

I'm sitting cross-legged on the ground in the middle of the basement. It's dark, because I've never bothered to turn on any lights, and because I think the dark must suit me, anyhow. I've gotten the feeling that the Dark magic misses me, misses my constant casting, but I still can't bring myself to cast any spell other than the one used to access the basement. I figure the darkness I surround myself with physically may be enough to apologize to the Dark for my absence. I do not know how long this absence will last.

I know I am bad. I know I am, and always will be, _the Dark Sorcerer._ I know that I am meant to be feared, meant to be seen as evil, meant to use my every waking hour against mankind.

But for the moment, all I want to do is sleep.

And, perhaps, when I sleep, I can count as _neutral._ Not bad. Not the ever unachievable good. Just... there. Neutral.

All I've ever wanted is to be _not bad._ I want to help people. I want to drop my Addiction. I want to be appreciated. I want people to, when they think, "I've got this problem," immediately think afterwards, "I can go to Seto. I can always go to Seto."

But I ruined that.

Oh, Notch, I ruined that.

Sudden sobs rack my body, and I can't seem to stop them, no matter how hard I try. Soon I'm gasping for breath, rocking back and forth and hugging my knees and crying into them and wondering how I got into this mess, wondering how "Try it, Seto! Think of everything you could do if only you tried Dark Magic!" turned into "Bad, Seto. You are bad. You are Dark, and you can never be Light again. Never again, because now you are Addicted, and there is no going back."

I tug on my hair, pulling until it hurts, shrieking in pain because I don't know what else to do, and I'm so lost, I'm so lost, and I need to let out all the built up self-hatred but I _just don't want to be bad,_ and so I don't want to go outside for fear that I _will_ be bad, and I just _don't know what to do._

I sob until my throat hurts and my head hurts, too; I sob until there are no tears left to cry and no voice left to scream; I sob until the only thing I can manage to think is "Bad, bad, bad," and the only thing I can manage to say is, "Sorry, sorry, sorry."

Eventually I fall asleep like that, cheeks tear-soaked, voice so hoarse I can hardly speak, emotions so twisted that I can hardly tell happy from sad.

I fall asleep on the cold, hard floor of my lonely, dark basement, and I wish, in the back of my mind, that I will never again wake up.

* * *

I suppose it is always at the oddest and most inconvenient of times that one's doorbell must be rung.

And so it is that, with hair ruffled, cloak crumpled (and still bloodied and torn), and cheeks still stained with dirt and tears, I drag myself up the spiral staircase and to the front door.

Logically, I should pause to wonder who could possibly be ringing my doorbell. A citizen, lost in my woods and not knowing the Hell they are walking into? Perhaps, or perhaps something entirely different. Regardless, today I have no brain power to be spent on trivial questions that can be answered with the simple turn of a doorknob.

"Who goes there," I say flatly, hoarsely, and not at all scarily as I open the door.

"Uh, hey, so, three things! One: your forest is super scary. Two: uh, the Burg is a very scary place and also the road between the Burg and the City is, too. And, um, three: I was wondering if maybe just maybe you would mind letting me stay here for like just a day or two, or maybe even a few hours because I know you probably hate me and all but I just really need a few hours of safe rest because I have no clue what I'm doing and I'm so lost and I'm so scared and I didn't know what to do at all but then I thought, 'Maybe I can go to Seto-'"

Without any words at all, I lurch forward and wrap my arms around him, tightly, tightly, and I don't think I'll ever let go, _ever._ Before I know it I'm sobbing into his shirt, which is dirty and covered in blood and making me very, very worried about his health, but I can't stop to ask him if he's okay because _I'm_ too busy being very, very _not_ okay, and I'm choking on sobs and I'm gasping for breath and I'm initiating Proper Breakdown #2™, but then Brice coos, "Shh, Seto, it's all right. Come on, let's sit down, okay?" and he pulls me over to the couch and sits me down on it while I continue to gasp into his shirt, and then he sighs sadly and finally hugs me back.

"I'm so sorry, Seto," he whispers softly in my ear, and that only makes me cry more.

"Jeb, you're even more of a mess than I am," he chuckles worriedly as he pulls away, and I look down and rub the sleeve of my cloak across my nose. "Oh, Seto."

"I'm s-sorry, Brice," I gasp out, calming down but only a little. "I'm so, s-so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so _sorry,_ I'm-"

"Woah, hey, calm down," Brice says, his eyes widening. "You don't have anything to be sorry for."

"Yes, I-I do, I- I took you away from your brother, a-and I got you banished from your home, and I g-got you hurt, I got you hurt so many times, and when you asked me to do this one thing, to do this one spell with Light magic, I went and screwed it all up and did a terrible Dark magic spell that could've _killed_ you, a-and I-"

Brice shakes his head disapprovingly. "You spent the past four days thinking up those reasons, didn't you?"

"I-I-"

"Seto, it's okay," he whispers, leaning in close, and I sniff and wipe my nose again as I tilt my head in confusion. "None of those reasons were legitimate reasons, Seto. None of those things were your fault. And, anyways- you _did_ cast a Light magic spell. I know you did."

"I-I didn't, Brice," I sniffle, looking down again.

"You did. I saw it, I had a clear view of your magic, and it was super _light,_ lighter than I've ever seen it. The Light Mages must have seen the smoke from the explosions mixing with your magic, and that made it look dark."

"That's n-not enough to prove that it was Light magic. Maybe the light just hit it the wrong way-"

"You were so weak afterwards. You could barely stand up, Seto. Dark magic doesn't do that to you. Light magic, when you only barely believe in yourself, _will_ do that to you. Especially with such a big spell."

"I- But I- I'm-"

"Not to mention your words near the end, 'Cast the spell, Brice.' You wanted to protect me, even though you knew you couldn't. And I don't think it's possible," he says, swallowing hard, "to cast Dark magic when you have such bright intentions."

"You- You heard?"

"You subconsciously broadcasted it to me via some mental spell, I guess? I don't know, but I heard it, super clear in the back of my head. And then I cast the floaty spell, and it worked, Seto, I did it! First try! And so I was super high in the sky when everything blew up, and then I dropped back down and I ran to find you and it took me a while but I'm so, so sorry, Seto."

"I-" I stop for a moment and stand up. "I hurt you so much- I got you _exiled_ by your _brother_ , and you- _you're_ sorry!?"

He winces. "Uh, sorry for that, too..?"

"Why aren't you angry!?" I shout, taking a step back. "Why don't you hit me or something!?"

Brice's eyes go wide. "No, Seto, I would never-"

"But I deserve it!" I reach forward and grab his hands, pulling him to his feet so he's standing right in front of me. "Hit me, Brice."

"Seto-"

"Hit me, Brice!"

"Seto, I'm not going to hit you-"

 _"Hit_ me!" I cry desperately, cursing myself as yet another tear slips from my eye. "Hit me, _now!"_

Brice grabs my arms, gently but firmly, and pulls me closer to him as tears stream down my face faster and faster. "Hit me, hit me, hit me," I sob, blinking rapidly in a vain attempt to stop the tears.

"Seto," Brice says softly, and then he pulls me in and kisses me gently, and I lean into it at first but then I push him back, frantically shaking my head and mumbling "bad, bad, bad" over and over almost incomprehensibly.

"Good," Brice whispers. "You are good."

I lurch forward and slam my lips against his, and he stumbles back a few steps before getting his balance back. "Mm," he mumbles in surprise, smiling into the kiss as he wraps his arms around me.

I break away after a while, gasping for air as I stumble backward. "Brice," I breathe.

"Seto?"

"You can stay here as long as you like."

His eyes go wide, and he grins in happy surprise. "R-Really?"

"Yes. Ah, as it turns out..." It's okay, right? If I'm good- If I'm good, like- like he said- then it's okay. I'm not tainting him. And it's okay for me to feel this way. I don't have to hate everyone. I can like some people. I can _love_ some people.

"As it turns out," I finish, "I love you, too."


	16. Fifteen: Loved

_The song above is "Spotlight (Oh Nostalgia)" by Patrick Stump, and, if this book were a movie, I think the ending scene would have this song playing in the background. ^.^ Alternatively, you could listen to "Hope in Front of Me" by Danny Gokey, as both songs would fit **very** well._

 _Guys. This... is the **last chapter.**_

 _iM SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS CHAPTER ITS OS FLJASDF LSKDJF KLSDJ I JUST ASKLJDF KLSJDFSKLDF_

 _SLDAJF SDF_

 _ALSO ALSO LIKE I WANT TO PUBLISH THIS ONE IN PRINT BUT A) I WANT TO PUT ACTUALY EFFORT INTO IT AND ORDER PROOFS AND ALL THAT LIK EGAMES, AND UNLIKE RM XD AND B) I KINDA LIKE SETO AND BRICE? LIKE I KINDA DONT WANT IT TO BE ANYONE ELSE, EVEN IF THEY PERSONALITIES STAY. SO LIKEEEEEEE WHATTTTTTTTTTT IFF I JUST REPLACE ALL THE "NOTCH"S AND THEN TRY NOT TO GET SUED WITH THE WHOLE SETOSOLACE THING? XDXD SUGGESTIONS, PLZ, IF YOU CARE TO GIVE THEM._

 _(I JUST HAVE THIS **OBSESSION** WITH SEEING MY OWN BOOKS ON MY SHELF)_

 _(LIKE ASKDLJF LKSDFSKDL THAT IS SUCH A GOOD FEELING MAN)_

 _ANYWAYS THIS IS THE END OF THE BOOK UNTIL FIURTHER PLANS ARE DECIDED ON THAT._

 _LKASJF SD_

 _IM CRYING_

 _IM NOT READY *sobs*_

 _IM GOING TO MISS IT_

 _IM GOING TO MISS THE FIVE THOUSDAND "ROLL CREDITS" IN THE COMMENT SECTION OF EVERY CHAPTER_

 _IM GOING TO MISS ALL OF YOU!_

 _PS: TO THETRYHARD8 ON FF, I LISTENED TO BAD APPLE AND ASKLDJF LSKJ THAT MUSIC VIDEO WAS SPECTACULARASTICSOME. LIKE, DANGASD FHALSDJ F_

 _OKAY IM DONE_

 _HERE WE GO_

 _LST CHAPTER_

 _EN-JUH-HOY, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS._

 _THANK YOU FOR TAGGING ALONG ON THIS BOOKISH SMOL BEANISH JOURNEY WITH ME :')_

 **Addict**

 **Ch 15: "Loved"**

"SETO! SETO! SETO!"

 _"Silentium,"_ I groan, my wispy purple magic, somewhat of a mix between Dark and Light (though Dark still dominates), quickly sound proofing my bedroom.

"Seto, oh my _Jeb!"_ Brice huffs, pushing me out of bed, and I squeak as I hit the floorboards.

"Notch. What do you want?"

He just grins before running downstairs, and I roll my eyes before following after him. When I get downstairs, he's standing at the front door, giving me another Cheshire grin before slipping outside. The chants of my name continue, and I furrow my eyebrows. Brice can't possibly be making all that noise on his own.

Hesitantly, I edge open the door, and my eyes go wide when I see the huge crowd settled in front of my house. "Holy crap," I whisper. "U-Um- hello?"

"Seto!" Danielle squeals happily, and she and Jenny run up and throw their arms around me.

"I- Ah, hi," I greet them cautiously, glancing nervously at all the other people here. I think Danielle, Jenny, and their parents are the only people I know – besides Brice, of course. "If you don't mind my asking," I begin, trying to regain my bearings, "why, exactly, are you all congregated on my front lawn?"

"We're here to thank you," says a low, hauntingly familiar voice, and it sends chills down my spine.

"W-What?" I ask, and Brice frowns and moves to stand by me as one of my old friends steps forward.

"Seto. Okay, let me- let me explain. I... I became a Light Mage after you left, partly so I might have a chance at finding you. I never did, but then... I was there, when you won the war for us. And I had the wonderful foresight to begin live streaming the whole event from the moment you fell to your knees." He chuckles. "Long story short: you may be banished from our land, but we're not banished from yours, so we're here to thank you for saving us all."

My jaw drops, very against my will. "Y-You- But I haven't-"

"Hello, Seto," he laughs. "I'm Ty, in case you've forgotten."

I think I nearly pass out. "But you- Why would you help me? I'm bad," I mumble.

"Good," Brice and Ty correct me at the same time.

Ty smiles sadly. "And it's about time you start believing it. I'm so sorry that our other friends and I weren't as supportive as we should have been - some of us were _very_ insensitive and stupid, but I like to think I wasn't one of them. I wanted so badly to help you out of the rut you'd gotten yourself into, but..."

"But you didn't."

"But I didn't. Seto, please, I'm so sorry." He sighs. "I know it isn't an excuse. But all of our other friends were so convinced that you'd be better off if we 'let you go,' and... Notch, I'm so sorry, Seto."

"I am, too," I say quietly.

Ty flinches back a little. "Please forgive me, Seto. I want to be your friend again."

I think the whole crowd holds its breath.

"I..." I sigh and look down for a moment. _Five years,_ I think. Five years of loneliness and sadness and the conviction that I could only be bad for as long as I lived.

But now here he is, one of my closest out of the group of my ex-friends, and he's saying sorry and he's asking to be friends again and he's giving me back the "good" reputation I've always wanted from the City. And there's a smiling crowd of citizens in front of my house, and they're all waiting because this is for _them,_ too, and if I can't forgive Ty then I surely can't forgive them.

"I'm still Addicted," I say, voice wavering as I look down to avoid all of the no-doubt judging stares.

"But this time," Ty replies quietly, "you won't have to deal with it alone."

I squeeze my eyes shut tightly and throw my arms around Ty, and he hesitantly wraps his arms around me, too. "Thank you, Seto," he whispers.

"Thank _you,"_ I laugh through a couple of tears. Notch, I've cried way too frequently in the past few days.

The crowd of citizens suddenly goes up in cheers, and I pull away from Ty with wide eyes. "Does that mean we have permission to party?" asks a teenage girl with a cake in her hands.

"P-Party?" I ask, not quite believing what I'm seeing.

"Yeah, to celebrate your victory!" one of the adults shouts.

"I- W-Wait, how did you even _get_ here?" I laugh.

"Danny knew the way," comments another adult.

" _Danielle_ has a surprisingly good memory," Danielle's mother says softly, and Brice coos.

"She's a clever girl," her father comments, looking down at her lovingly, and Jenny grins and gives Danielle a big hug.

I realize, suddenly, that I am happy.

I am not helplessly awaiting the next moment at which I can cast Dark magic (though, of course, the time will come). I am not drowning in my loneliness, for I am not lonely. I am not telling myself I am bad, or doomed to darkness.

Because I am _not._

I am _good._

I am _light._

Even if I'm still Addicted now, I won't always be.

And, Notch, does that knowledge feel good.

"In that case," I say quietly, "I suppose we ought to celebrate."

The whole crowd cheers again, and people set up foldable tables and pile them with food while a number of children run up to me and tell me how much they love me. "You're like a superhero!" a little boy says, grinning.

A tear slips down my cheek.

"Why are you crying?" he asks, frowning a little.

"It just makes me so happy," I laugh, "when I see a little boy so cute!" I pinch the boy's cheeks, and he squeals in laughter.

"Ditto," Brice giggles, walking up and kissing my cheek, and I try not to blush.

"Who is that boy?" asks the little boy, almost jealously. "He _kissed_ you!"

"Indeed, he did," I confirm, glancing up at a smiling Brice.

"Cool! Can I kiss you, too?"

"Ah-"

"He's mine," Brice says possessively, wrapping his arms around me from behind. This time, I can't stop the blush. "You can't have him."

"Notch, you guys are adorable," Ty mutters.

"But I wanna kiss Super Seto, too!" the boy protests, putting on a rather impressive pouty face.

I nearly choke on my own spit. "Super Seto?"

"No, Louis, you can't kiss him! Brice is his boyfriend!" Danielle whines, rolling her eyes. "We've been over this, Louis, you can't kiss boys _that are already taken!"_

Louis sticks out his bottom lip in a pitiful little pout. "I'm sorry, Seto's boyfriend."

"Hey, Louis?" I ask quietly, crouching down next to him.

His eyes go wide. "What?"

"Don't tell Brice," I reply, winking, and then I lean forward and kiss the tiny child on the cheek.

He squeals in delight and runs away, and Brice huffs and pulls me up next to him again. "Hmph. He may be able to get a few short kisses from you, but _I_ get to hold you and call you 'mine.'"

I grin, relishing in how easy it feels, how _right_ it feels to be next to him. "Brice?"

"Yeah?"

"I've found that I quite like being yours."

Brice laughs, and I can practically _hear_ the blush in his voice. "G-Good. That's good."

"Guys, come get some cake!" Ty shouts, and I pull away from Brice in favor of food.

"Need anything?" I ask, glancing back at him as I approach the table.

"I need _you,"_ Brice answers, smiling goofily, and I roll my eyes just like I did the _first_ time he said that.

"Seto, uh, sir," Danielle's father says nervously, tapping on my shoulder to get my attention, and I spin around to face him.

"Simply 'Seto' is fine. What is it?"

"My wife and I... Our family doesn't exactly trust the Light Mages anymore."

I raise an eyebrow. "And..?"

His wife buts in. "And we would really appreciate it if _you_ would train Danielle."

"O-Oh," I stammer as my eyes go wide. "That's- ah. I- ah, I-"

"Please, Seto, pleeeeaaase!" Danielle begs, having apparently been listening in on our conversation. She and Jenny run up to me and dance around me excitedly. "Please will you teach me?"

"Come on, loser, you know you wanna!" Jenny teases, and her parents scold her, looking alarmed.

"You know, if you _wanted_ to," Brice says shyly, having walked over to us, "you could totally teach _me,_ too."

I bite my lip and close my eyes for a moment, blocking out the sound of their voices.

Could I? Danielle is so young. I could _so easily_ lead her in the wrong direction. And Brice, so pure – and yet, he's apparently been Addicted before, too, if our argument in the Dark Mage tower was anything to go by. Maybe _that's_ why the rest of his Light Mage buddies put him down all the time. Maybe Brice was just like me.

You know what?

Brice and Danielle and I, we're going to become the three most powerful Light sorcerers in all of existence. Maybe – and this is a _big_ maybe – but maybe someday we can even create our own City – but a better one. A much better one, where the protectors care about the protected, where those who have fallen down a bad path get _help_ climbing their way back up, where little girls can be little girls and it doesn't take a huge freaking _war_ to convince their parents and neighbors of this.

There'd be a wide, open entrance to our city, and anyone would be able to come in, even the people who were previously from the City, or the Burg, people who maybe wouldn't quite fit in with us – anyone could come to our city, and we'd take them in and we'd make them feel welcome. We'd let them know that they could be whoever they wanted to be; they could be a Light sorcerer, if they wanted. A _Dark_ sorcerer, if they wanted. A boy, or a girl, or anything in between, if they wanted. They could like girls, or boys, or both, or no one at all, if they wanted. It'd be up to them to shape their own path – no one could tell them who they had to be.

They could be _themselves,_ and _no one would stop them._

"Seto?" Brice asks, sounding concerned. "You okay? You kinda zoned out for a minute there."

"I'll teach you both," I blurt out.

"Can I come, too? Just in case I _do_ have magic?" Jenny asks eagerly.

"Absolutely."

Jenny and Danielle squeal and hug me tightly, and Brice mimics their squeal almost perfectly before planting a kiss on my cheek. "You're gonna be a _great_ teacher," Ty says, smiling softly.

"Um..." I wince in advance. "You know... I would... Ah, I'll probably require an assistant of some kind, at least until Brice has learned a tad more-"

Ty's eyes go wide. "Are you- Are you asking me to teach them _with_ you?"

I laugh nervously. "Sort of, yes."

"Oh, oh, if you're _both_ teaching, does that mean you can have another student?" Louis asks, bouncing around. Yikes, that kid has had way too much cake. "Because I can magic, too, except the Light Mages don't like my daddies so they wouldn't teach me. But you could teach me, right!?"

"Yes," I say slowly, trying to keep my smile from growing, "I believe I could."

"It looks like you've got a lot on your plate already," says a shy teenager who looks just a few years older than Jenny. "But, if you wouldn't mind... I, ah... I'd kind of like to get away from Dark magic, because I didn't mean to start casting it, really!" They bite their lip nervously and glance around like they're expecting the crowd to judge them, but, while some of the citizens are wary, none are outwardly disapproving. "But the Light Mages... They won't teach me. They think I'm _'too far gone,'_ or whatever," they mumble bitterly.

"I can train you, as well," I say, though my voice is barely audible, and my smile is starting to break through.

"You're gaining quite the class," Brice comments.

"You might need a few _more_ assistants," Ty says, looking at me as though asking for permission to continue, and I tilt my head in confusion. "Do you remember Jason?"

I nod, speechless.

"Jason misses you. He wanted to come today, actually, but he stayed behind to help repair the City. It's a little beaten up."

My eyes go wide, and I swallow hard. "Do you think he would be willing to-"

"I _know_ he'd be willing to help you," Ty replies determinedly.

I glance around at the crowd. "Any of you who help me, or- or are taught by me- the Light Mages are not going to be happy with you," I warn them hesitantly.

"I don't care," Ty says, shrugging, and Danielle and Jenny's parents smile encouragingly at me. The rest of the crowd look around at each other and then eventually look up at me again and nod.

"G-Guilty by association," I mumble, because I don't want any of these nice people to get exiled for me like Brice did.

"Guilty _as charged,"_ the teenager says, smirking rebelliously.

"You don't deserve to be alone," says a tall man as he places his hand on Louis' head, and I assume he must be one of the boy's fathers.

"Your basement spans the _entire forest,"_ Brice whispers in my ear, and there seems to be excitement bubbling right beneath his words, begging to be let loose. "Please, please tell me you're thinking what I'm thinking."

I raise an eyebrow and turn my head to look at him. "What a shame, I think I _am_ thinking what you're thinking. There goes all of our personal space."

Brice grins and cheers loudly, but Ty and the rest of the crowd just look at me, waiting for a verdict.

"Well," I breathe, smiling up at them all, "one must always have a Plan B. And our Plan B, should you all agree, is a _new_ city, a _better_ city – right in this very forest. Under _my_ protection – _Brice's_ protection – _Jason's,_ and _Ty's._ If the Light Mages exile you from _their_ City, then each and every one of you is _always_ welcome in _ours."_

The teenager sheds a tear before quickly wiping it away and grinning at me. Danielle screams happily, and Jenny and Louis jump around excitedly. Danielle's mother laughs, wiping away tears of her own, and her father gives me the most grateful, relieved smile I've ever seen.

"Thank you," Ty whispers.

"Thank _you,"_ I say to the entire crowd of people.

"This is- _amazing,"_ Louis' father laughs. "Why are you doing this?"

"Light magic and light actions – I've learned that _they_ can give you a high, too, though it's a different kind." I tell him. "And, unlike their Dark equivalents, they do _not_ have a crash."

"So you're still doing it for the high?" Danielle's father asks.

"As cheesy as this sounds..." I laugh and shake my head. "You guys _are_ my high."

Brice hugs me tightly, and I close my eyes and hug him back happily. Notch, who would've thought the 'obnoxious kid' would turn into the 'adorable boyfriend?'

"Seto?" Brice asks, and I pull back and look up at him expectantly. "About us being your high...

"We are _honored."_


	17. BONUS

_OKAY NOW IM DONE I SWEAR_

 **Addict**

 **BONUS**

 **THREE YEARS LATER**

"We need to have a talk."

I smile nervously at Danielle's parents, one of whom has her hand on her hip and the other of whom has his arms tightly crossed. "Of course," I reply, signaling for them to continue.

May Notch have mercy on me.

"It's about Danielle," her mother says, and I find myself wishing they would just get on with it.

"Yes..?"

The father sighs in exasperation. "She has a British accent!"

Brice snorts out a laugh before clamping his hand over his mouth, and I bite my lip as hard as I can. "… I see," I say after a moment of laughter-containment.

"This isn't funny!" her mother shouts.

"Yeah, man! Every time she says 'Mummy,' I get creepy Doctor Who flashbacks!" Jenny complains, groaning in discontent. "Can't you up the American just a little bit?"

Her parents, by now comfortable with the fact that I will not smite their daughter for sassing me (rather, I will simply sass her back), nod along in agreement.

"Gee, dude, 'm real sorry 'bout that. How about we all gather 'round a couple of flags and eat McDonalds and talk about politics together to try to get past this bump in our relationship?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

Brice has to leave the room because no one can hear anything over his laughter.

"Not enough?" I ask, sighing. "Fine. Uh, football, freedom, and homonyms. Dump the tea!"

Jenny has to leave, too.

"Also, Donald Trump."

Danielle's father chokes on his spit.

"First orange president. Absolutely, ten out of ten, would freedom again."

Jenny's mother sighs.

"… 'Merica."

She and her husband turn and leave.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Danielle laughs, somersaulting out from behind the couch. "So can I be British?"

I shrug and pull her onto the couch next to me, and she laughs again. "You can, at the very least, sport the accent."

"Ew, sports."

I roll my eyes and push the girl off the couch, and she giggles as she jumps to her feet. "Where did you even come from?"

"Behind the couch, obviously!" she screeches. "I heard my parents were going to have a 'talk' with you about me saying 'bloody tea crumpets' all the time, so I came along for damage control."

I raise my eyebrows. "Damage control?"

"Yeah!"

"What, exactly, do you mean by that?"

"Um, okay, well- pretend you just told them you were actually going to cut down on the Britishness!" Danielle instructs me, running behind the couch again.

"All right." I clear my throat. "Yes, ma'am, sir. No more British accent. I understand," I say in my best American accent.

"BLOODY TEA CRUMPETS!" screams Danielle, flying out from behind the couch. "Seto, no! Never submit! You can be whoever you want to be, remember? Also, you're my favorite person! And your hair looks pretty today! And I love you! And your cloak is very, um, purple! And, and fitting! You look good! Now tell them I can be British!"

I resist the urge to slap the palm of my hand against my forehead.

"You planned to use flattery to solve your problems."

Danielle sniffs. _"Brice_ calls it butt-kissery."

I snort and stand up, grabbing Danielle's hand and tugging her out of the air as I go. "Perhaps we should go have a bit of a _word_ with Brice. You're only-" I tap my chin. "What, eight?"

"Nine, tomorrow!" she screeches.

"Yes, I haven't forgotten, don't fret," I laugh, ruffling her shoulder-length hair as I lead her outside toward the above-ground half of Our City. "Quick question, dear: Have you seen Payten?"

"Mhmm! I think they're drooling over the new videogame store Louis' dad put up. Hey, can you take me by there after today's lesson? Mommy says video games will rot my brain," she rambles, pouting up at me.

I gasp, putting my hand over my heart. "Such blasphemy!"

"I _know,_ right!? And Jenny's too busy looking at-" she scoffs, _"boys_ to help me win Mom over."

"Your sister's finally getting boy-crazy?" I ask, laughing a little. "I was starting to think she never would."

Danielle pouts again. "Seto, they're not even real boys? She just kind of sighs at a book all day and then mourns on that tumbling site!"

I bite my lip, trying to hide how much I completely understand Jenny's predicament. "Well, I suppose that's just a teenager thing, dear. Perhaps you'll understand when _you_ become a teenager."

"No! Boys are gross, especially fake boys. Except for Louis, but he's not fake, and plus he's really gay and plus plus I really just want to be his best friend forever."

"Sounds like a plan," I say, smiling slightly, and then I guide Danielle into the magic school located in the middle of the mostly-cleared-out forest. Hopefully, Brice will be here.

He's not, and I sigh when I realize. But Payten is here, at least, and they grin and walk over to me, still sporting the same sort of all-black style they were sporting when they first asked to be one of my students that day in front of my house. "Yo, Seto!"

"Hello, Payten. How are you?"

"I'm okay." They bend down and grin widely at Danielle, who giggles in anticipation of being tickled. "Aw, calm down, I won't getcha today. Where's your sister?"

"Crying over some anime."

"Dang. Got any news concerning you-know-what?"

"Sorry, Pay, she's still more interested in Sebastian from Black Butler than in you."

Payten blushes tremendously. "Oh my Notch. You're so lucky no one was in here to hear that."

 _"I_ heard it," I point out, grinning devilishly, and Payten sends me a fairly terrifying glare.

"Don't you dare, Seto," they growl at me.

I laugh and put my hands up in a defensive position. "Calm down, now, I won't say a word. But, Danielle, weren't you just talking about how you didn't want your sister dating anyone?" I ask.

Danielle groans. "It's o _kay_ if she dates Payten, 'cause Payten is nice and they make Jenny really happy!" She huffs and furrows her eyebrows. "But Kirito and Sebastian and all the other made-up boys just make Jenny cry a lot."

"That's sweet," I comment, ruffling her hair again, and she huffs one more time before I lift my head up to face Payten again. "I give you my best wishes, dear. You'll get her someday."

"Thanks, Seto," Payten breathes, glowing slightly in the magical sense.

"Dani, Dani, Dani!" Louis screams, barreling through the double doors, and I grab onto his torso as he passes by to prevent him from running into a desk. "Ahh, Seto, let go, I have to talk to Danielle!"

"Right beside you, Lou."

"Dani!" Louis shrieks, hugging Danielle tightly. "You won't _believe_ this!"

"What?" Danielle asks, looking equally excited despite not knowing the reason.

"That guy is here! The guy guy!"

"What..?" Payten mumbles, furrowing their eyebrows in confusion.

"Oh my gosh, the _guy_ guy!?" Danielle screeches.

"Yeah, him! But he's being super nice and he says he wants to see Brice! Should we let him in?"

"We let everyone in," I but in, but I'm frowning. "But I'd like to meet this man. Why is he asking for Brice?"

"He says he's Brice's brother!" Louis shouts, biting his lip in excitement afterwards.

My eyes go wide. "Hold up. Brice's brother – the head Light Mage? How do you know him?"

"He's the _guy_ guy!" Louis laughs. "He comes once a year with a letter in his hand but he never drops it off, he just kind of watches Our City gates for a while and then leaves."

"How do you know about him?"

"We go up to meet him each year, 'cause he always comes on the anniversary of you and Brice's exile thingy!" Danielle tells me. "He's really nice but he's also really shy. But this year he isn't leaving! He wants to see Brice!"

"All right, class is off for today. What say we all go meet this man?"

Payten shrugs. "Okay. Wait, let me go spread the word that class is out for the day. I'll meet you by the gates..?"

"Sounds lovely. The front gates, Louis?"

Louis nods eagerly and leads Danielle and I out the door, and then we all weave around buildings and trees to get to the front gates. With all the tiny detours we have in our effort to find Brice, we end up arriving at the gates around the same time as Payten, and still without a Brice.

"Hello, sir," I say sharply but politely as I step up to the decorative bars of the gates. "Can I help you?"

"Seto… Hi," Brice's brother says quietly, seeming ashamed. "I… have come to apologize to my brother."

"Oh?"

He looks up at me with desperate eyes. "Please. I just want to say sorry. I never stood up for him around the other Light Mages like I should have, and then I went and _exiled_ you both, and… Please. I need to see him."

"It's been three years," I reply dryly. "Perhaps you should have apologized sooner?" I ask, and Payten elbows me gently but I send them a mental message to just go along with it.

"I know," the head Light Mage replies. "I should have, but I couldn't… couldn't find the strength to face him after what I did."

"He is under _my_ protection," I warn him, "along with the rest of Our City. And we _both_ know who would win in a fight between you and me."

"I just want to say sorry," he promises.

I sign the word "Open," and my light purple magic does just that to Our City gates. "I'm trusting you with the presence of my people, who, at this point, I think of entirely as my family. Any hostile moves toward anyone here will _not_ be taken lightly."

"Thank you," Brice's brother sighs, wrapping me up in a tight hug and lifting me off the ground slightly. My eyes go wide, and I huff. Notch, I hate people who are taller than me. "Where is he?"

"Not sure. Would you like a tour?" I ask, relaxing now that I'm fairly sure his intentions are pure. "We'll look for him on the way."

"Yes, thank you," he breathes, seeming very grateful.

"Lovely. Introductions are in order, then, I suppose," I say, beginning to walk back into the heart of the city with Payten, Louis, Danielle, and Brice's brother trailing behind. "I'm Seto, as you seem to already know. The tiny one is Louis-" ("Hey! I just haven't hit my growth spurt yet!") "-the slightly less tiny one is Danielle-" ("No fair, I'm _way_ less tiny than Louis!") "-and the one who is getting alarmingly close to my height is Payten." ("Gettin' scared, huh?")

"You've got quite the group here," the man chuckles good-naturedly. "Nice to meet you all. My name is Michael."

"Nice to meet you, as well, Michael," I reply as we approach the most populated area of Our City. "Now, I must warn you: Everyone here is quite friendly, almost fear-inducingly so."

Before Michael has had a chance to fully process this information, a group of my students basically attacks him. "Hello!" a tall child pipes. "You're new! If you need a place to stay until we get your house built, there's a complimentary hotel just a few blocks away from my street!"

"I'm Lizza," says a small girl matter-of-factly. "My mom named me after her favorite character from Seto and Brice's adventures." She looks Michael up and down. "Yes. You are smol bean material."

"Woah, hey, guy!" shouts a preteen boy. "How do you get your hair to stick up like that!? Brice does it, too, but he says he doesn't use any gel or anything?"

"For the love of all things holy, tell me you are not married," begs a shameless woman who has recently approached.

"U-Uh-" Michael tries, stepping back a bit.

"Now, now, give the poor man a bit of room, dears," I instruct them all, rolling my eyes. "This is Michael, and he's looking for Brice. Have any of you seen him?"

"Is he Brice's dad!?" the preteen asks. "Do you know the hair secret!?"

"Please don't be married," the woman mumbles.

Lizza rolls her eyes. "Smol Bean Brice is getting Fairly Tol Bean Jason out of a tree in the park."

"A tree?" I ask, raising my eyebrows, and she nods. "Well. All right, then, we'll head to the park."

"Ooh, ooh, can I come, too?" asks the tall child.

"Certainly," I reply easily, and Michael smiles uneasily. "Let's hurry along, now."

"Why is Jason stuck in a tree?" Payten asks, raising a single eyebrow. (I taught them that. I'm quite proud.)

"Feline rights," Lizza answers.

Payten rolls their eyes and starts toward the park, and I and the others follow after them, all slightly dreading what could have possibly gone down at our destination.

"No, Jason, it's totally okay! I'll catch you, I swear," Brice promises, looking up at Jason, who is, indeed, stuck high in a tree. He doesn't look very confident in Brice's ability to catch him.

"I just don't see why this was necessary," Ty deadpans, sitting at a picnic table nearby and resting his chin in his hand.

"That kitten was _afraid,_ " Jason whines as though that justifies climbing into a tree when you are apparently too afraid to then climb back down.

"You are literally a _sorcerer."_

"I panicked, okay!?"

"One moment," I sigh, casting a spell on Jason that instantly teleports him down to the ground, and he sighs in relief.

"Oh my Notch, Seto, _thank_ you. You are _so_ much more helpful than _some_ people," he says, glaring at Brice and Ty. Brice pouts, and Ty shrugs.

"Always my pleasure," I say, rolling my eyes, and Ty frowns and stands up.

"Who's this?"

"Right. May I speak to Brice privately, please?" I ask politely, trying not to make it too blaringly obvious that we're harboring his brother. Luckily, our insanely large group of children and adults mostly hides the man.

Brice jogs over to me, looking worried, and I lead him around the corner of a nearby building. "Oh my Jeb. Are you breaking up with me? Agh, this is like three years overdue, but, like, please don't-"

"Three years overdue?" I snort. "I'm actually a little offended, Brice. The day I'll stop being your boyfriend is the day I'll _start_ being your husband."

Brice blushes, and I smirk.

"But that isn't the point, Brice. This is serious," I say with my best serious face.

He bites his lip. "Okay… What is it?"

"Your brother is here. He wishes to see you, but if you are uncomfortable with that, I will not allow him to."

Brice sucks in a quick breath, and his eyes go wide. "I- Michael? Like, m-my actual brother?"

"Yes, Brice."

"I-" He bites his lip and clenches his hand into a fist repeatedly, and I frown.

"You don't have to meet with him. I can tell him to leave this very moment," I assure him.

"No!" Brice shouts. "Er, I mean- Why is he here?"

"I believe he'd like to tell you that himself."

Brice bites his lip again and runs his hand through his hair. "Um- I-" His eyes dart up to look into mine. "Will you stay with me?"

I smile softly and pull him close to me. "Of course."

"Okay, then," Brice says decisively, breathing in deeply. "Let's do this!"

Smirking, I snap my fingers, and Michael poofs next to us, looking surprised and disoriented. "Um-?"

"My apologies," I reply without missing a beat. "You wished to see your brother?"

"Brice," Michael breathes. "Brother."

"H-Hey," Brice says, waving awkwardly.

"Brice. I- I want to apologize. I'm so sorry for exiling you and Seto, for putting the Light Mages above my own brother."

"I mean," Brice shrugs helplessly, "it's your job, you know? Get rid of the guys the City doesn't like."

A smile breaks out on Michael's face. "But the City loved you – both of you."

Brice glances over at the people in the park, who have taken to scolding Jason in our absence. "Yeah," he says quietly. "They did. They do."

"And I love you, too." Michael laughs. "I'm your _brother!_ And… I'm tired of not being able to see you anymore. So, if you'll have me – if it won't make you uncomfortable – I would like to move into Your City."

"Our City," Brice corrects him, and his eyes go wide.

"Was that an 'okay?'"

Brice nods shyly.

"Thank you for this second chance, Brice," Michael whispers, throwing his arms around his little brother. "I won't hurt you again." Then he turns to me, towering over me with his height, and I raise an eyebrow. "And _you._ If _you_ hurt my brother, you're gonna be in big trouble with me."

I snort. "I'd be in big trouble with the entire city if I broke up with Brice or anything similar to that; we're basically Our City's power couple." I pull Brice closer to me and peck his check, and he blushes. "And for good reason, clearly."

"Hey, Seto?" Brice asks.

"Yes?"

"I hung sixty-two American flags in your bedroom."

"Oh my Notch." He giggles and runs off, and my eyes go wide. "You little- Hey, get back here!" I yell, running after him. "How did you even manage to _get_ that many flags!?"

"Magic!" he shrieks, laughing wildly as he ducks behind Jason.

Jason's eyes widen in fear. "Oh, no. No, I am _not_ getting in the middle of whatever's going on with you two."

"Hand him over or you'll have to pay the price," I growl, and Jason bites his lip and then spins around, grabs Brice, and shoves him toward me.

"Jason, no!" Brice shouts, utterly betrayed, and I smirk and tackle the boy to the ground. "S-Seto! Have mercy!"

"I shall have nothing of the sort," I deadpan, straddling his waist, and then I lean down to place my lips on his, and I'm pressing him into the soft grass of the park and he's putting his hands up to hang around my neck and-

"Cover your eyes, kids," Payten whispers. "It's getting good."

Brice squeaks and pushes me off of him, and I groan and roll over to lay beside the boy. "Payten," I huff. "I thought we were friends."

"You thought wrong," they joke, and I sit up and glare at them. "Anyways, you owe Dani a trip to the game store."

I sigh and get to my feet, holding out a hand for Brice afterwards. He takes it, I help him up, and then I refuse to let go, but he doesn't seem to mind all that much as I pull him with me. "Michael, yo, you gotta come check out the game place, too!" Payten calls before we can get too far, and Michael smiles softly and jogs after us.

Suddenly, Danielle skids to a halt in front of me, and I stop just before running into her. "What's wrong-" I begin.

"JENNYYYYY!" Danielle screams, and I realize we're right outside her house. "GET OUT HERE!"

A window on the second floor flies open, and Jenny glares out at us. "Sebastian was about to say _the line,"_ she hisses, and I roll my eyes and teleport her down here next to us.

"I sincerely hope you paused your show," I chuckle as she stares at me in horror. "Come, now, Jenny, you ought to meet Michael, Brice's brother."

"Hi," Jenny says flatly before turning and trying to walk back inside.

"Wrong move," Brice sings as I teleport Jenny in front of us once more.

"Jenny, dear, I'm worried," I tell her, frowning slightly. "You don't hang out with your friends as much as you used to."

"Yeah, well." She scuffs her shoes against the pavement a little. "I'm, um, I'm actually not always watching anime," Jenny says quietly, and my eyebrows shoot up as I pull her aside, putting a soundproof bubble around us so the others can't hear.

"Go on?"

"I, uh… Well, um- you know how Payten is really good at Call of Duty? I've sort of been… practicing. So that maybe I could play with them someday, because, like, if I beat them, maybe they'd be impressed, you know?" Jenny blushes terribly. "A-And maybe they might ask me out on a date or something, I don't know."

My shoulders shake with laughter as my head shakes with disbelief. "Jenny, dear. I don't think you need to impress Payten; somehow, you already have."

The teenager's eyes go wide. "What?"

"Ask them out on a date," I suggest, nudging Jenny's shoulder. "Do it."

"U-Um- But what would we even do, like- um-"

I smirk. "Jenny. _Jenny._ All you have to do is _ask Payten to show you how to play._ They're competitive, but they're also patient, and, plus, they might even wrap their arms around you from behind and put their hands on yours on the controller."

Jenny's eyes go wide. "That's… Seto, that's _genius."_

"Yes, I'm aware."

She groans. "Hurry up and get rid of this bubble, loser."

"Yikes. Sassy," I huff.

"Whatever. Um, thanks, though. When I sort of _subtly_ asked Brice how to pick up a soulmate, he was all like, 'First you gotta get locked in a prison cell!' and so I walked away."

I snort as I call off the bubble. "The route _I_ suggested seems a tad less war-filled."

"Little bit."

"What were you guys talking about?" Brice asks, tilting his head adorably as we step back toward the group.

"You," I reply, which is not completely a lie. He blushes quite impressively, and I chuckle and grab his hand. "Going to the game store. Need anything?" I ask, knowing quite well what his response will be.

"I need _you,"_ he tells me, as he always does, and I spin around to face him again.

"You've already got me," I say quietly, as _I've_ started to always do, and Brice smiles softly and tugs me just that little bit closer to him-

"Mm mm mm, Seto is _gettin'_ it," Jenny says. Payten snorts and then bites their lip trying not to laugh, and Louis and Danielle exchange confused glances while Michael just puts his hand over his mouth.

Brice blushes again and pushes me away, and I sigh. "Jenny. Dear," I deadpan, glaring at her.

"Fireworks tonight?" Brice asks.

I nod my head, and Michael raises his eyebrows. "What do you guys do during the fireworks?"

I shrug. "We make fireworks."

Brice squeaks. "Literal fireworks!"

"Occasionally figurative fireworks, as well."

"Seto!"

"Brice?" I ask, calmly raising an eyebrow.

"Ha, ha," Brice says, narrowing his eyes at me. "You can't fool me. You're fricking glowing."

I glow brighter, and Jenny, Payten, Danielle, and Louis burst into laughter while I try to get myself under control.

"I hate you all," I deadpan.

"Nah, you love us," Payten laughs, and I let a small smile break through.

"What a shame – you caught my bluff."


End file.
